


Get Lost In The Rhythm Of Me

by oddcoupler222



Series: Your Heart Is All I Own [3]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - no aliens/powers, Developing Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Requited Love, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-01-08 23:28:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12264273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oddcoupler222/pseuds/oddcoupler222
Summary: Alex Danvers and Maggie Sawyer first laid eyes on one another almost four years ago, realized they were in love over two years ago, and only just realized their feelings aren't nearly as unrequited as they'd believed.But you know what they say about the inevitable; it's only a matter of time.





	1. Dive Right In & Follow My Lead

**Author's Note:**

> The response to the first works in this series has been absolutely mind blowing, and I can't thank you all enough. 
> 
> This is just a little something (seriously, a little something; far shorter chapters!) to show the progression of their relationship and to provide some fluff in thanks for everyone sticking with me through the two angst-ridden journeys Alex and Maggie experienced.

Alex has her first date with Maggie four days after she tells her she loves her.

If either of them had their way, it would have been even sooner, but she guesses that’s one of the hazards about the fact that she agreed to teach three sections of her class this semester; it came with the end of semester rush – on top of her actual research.

But, that’s over now for the next few months, and even though she still has work in the lab, she’s never before felt like such a giddy kid celebrating summer vacation.

She really hasn’t _not_ been feeling like this since the night Maggie professed her feelings back for her, even with having so much work to do. Honestly, she doesn’t think she’s ever felt this happy.

Which is why she’s not going to let the fact that Maggie called her an hour ago to tell her – her tone sad and regretful and irritated all at once – that she was being made to stay at the station and re-fill out all of the paperwork from their current case because of something one of the other detectives on the case had botched the day before, stop the date from happening.

Excited nerves tingle throughout her body as she tightens her grip on the bag filled with food that she’d picked up from Maggie’s favorite Italian place, still able to feel the grin she has that she’s been wearing since right before she’d left, as she’d told Kara, “I have a date with Maggie.”

And she could hear the amazement in her own voice.  

She’s still able to hear her sister’s almost equally excited squeal and, “Yeah, you do!” as she’d given Alex a bright eyed smile and a tight hug.

She’s more than familiar enough with the precinct after the past few years to be able to navigate around, and she comes to a stop when she sees Maggie sitting at her desk.

She doesn’t know how it happens, but seeing Maggie never fails to give her that breathless head rush. It started years ago, and if anything, has only gotten stronger. Even now, as she is furiously scrawling on the forms on her desk.

Even now, while her head is braced against one hand, all that thick, dark hair falling over her shoulder, as her face is settled so deeply in a mix between a scowl and a frown, Alex is almost worried it might get stuck that way.

Maggie is focusing so deeply on her work that she doesn’t notice Alex is there until she places the bag of food on the desk, “Delivery for Detective Sawyer.”

Maggie’s head snaps up, and it’s almost like a switch is flicked. The frowning scowl is replaced in seconds with a smile so bright, her dimples pop, “Danvers?”

And – has she really never noticed that Maggie _always_ smiles like this for her? Or had she just been talking herself into believing that it didn’t mean what it means?

That Maggie _loves her_ , a small voice says in the back of her mind.

“What are you doing here?” Those dark eyes are still twinkling up at her in that way that only Maggie has – and, Alex is convinced, only Maggie will ever have – but she’s tilting her head in confusion.

“Well, you sounded kind of awful on the phone,” she teases, a small smile on her face, even as she feels a slight niggling of doubt in her stomach. “I figured you could use some dinner.”

Maggie’s eyebrows lift as she takes in the bag Alex had placed down, “From Angelo’s? That’s over a half hour away,” her voice is soft and surprised, still.

And it gives Alex a feeling of satisfaction that she surprised Maggie like this, but also the persistent ghost of irritation toward so many people in Maggie’s past that cause her this surprise that anyone would go out of the way for her; she doubts that feeling will ever go away.

“Angelo’s _is_ your favorite,” she reminds her as she reaches for an empty chair to pull over, before hesitating, eyes flickering to Maggie. Whose dark gaze is still wide and thoughtful as she bites at the inside of her lip, “Can I…?”

“No,” Maggie’s voice is quiet but firm, and when she feels herself freeze, she looks up just in time to see her lean back to drag the chair from the desk behind her, “Not across. Sit over here, with me.”

The relief that slides over her is ridiculous, and she can’t contain her smile. Maggie’s shaking her head a bit, and Alex can _feel_ her gaze on her as she sits down… and she scoots in close enough that her legs brush against Maggie’s because she _can_. Because for the first time in the last few years, she can let herself feel the way her stomach flips when they touch and not feel hopeless.

It only makes it even better when she meets Maggie’s eyes and she swears she can see the same feeling mirrored on her face.

They hold it for a few beats – beats that make her heart skip – before she clears her throat and reaches for the food, “I got you the spaghetti and meatballs –”

“You can’t go wrong with a classic,” Maggie lightly tells her, a laugh in her voice even as Alex rolls her eyes.

“You always say that. Anyway, I got the carbonara, if you want to mix it up,” she pulls out the to-go containers, glad they’re still warm. And that she had the foresight to bring the insulated bag Kara keeps in their kitchen.

“Alex.”

She reaches for the plates she’d tucked away into the bag from her apartment, “Don’t worry, I got the rolls, too.”

Maggie huffs out a breath before her hand lands on Alex’s wrist, effectively stilling her, “Alex. You didn’t have to do this.”

“I – what?” she glimpses from Maggie’s hand – both soft and lightly calloused and so familiar to her after years of knowing her, but so new in the way it lands on her arm and her thumb rubs lightly at her skin – up to meet her gaze again.

It gives her goosebumps.

“I mean,” Maggie squeezes her eyes closed, “It’s my fault tonight had to be cancelled. Well, that idiot Harrison’s fault, but I’m the one who had to ruin tonight. You – you didn’t have to do all of this.”

Alex can _hear_ the remorse in her voice, and she wants it gone.

But the reassurances she’d given Maggie on the phone hadn’t worked, and, really, it’s not like she doesn’t know by now that Maggie is going to be hard on herself. Especially when their first morning together, the way Maggie had laid herself out, vulnerable to her, is still so fresh in her memory.

So, she lifts an eyebrow, keeping her tone as matter-of-fact as she can, as she reaches for her dinner, “What, you thought I was going to just miss our first date? Not a chance.”

The look Maggie gives her is both warm and skeptical at the same time, “No; I was the one who asked you on the date, and had the whole night planned. I’m the one who runs the show on the first date, Danvers.”

“And I’m the one who told you I love you first and got the whole ball rolling,” she says, and it’s the first time either of them have referenced that night so casually and she can feel it settling over them.

It’s surprisingly comfortable.

Especially because Maggie’s dimples are back, “You _do_ have that.” But then she slides her spaghetti toward herself, “But it means that the first date should fall to me. So, tonight, is a perfect surprise… but our first date isn’t in the precinct, surrounded by paperwork and that old stereo that I can never figure out how to shut off.”

“No?” she makes a show of looking down at herself, still wearing the tight jeans and heeled boots and sort-of dressy shirt – she hadn’t known what to wear to plan for their date – then at the food, before back to Maggie, “You, me, Italian dinner, music…” she trails off before biting her lip and sliding her hand down into Maggie’s, interlacing their fingers easily. “And this? Seems like a date to me.”

Even though Maggie shakes her head, her hand flexes in Alex’s to hold a little tighter, “Nerd. But, Alex. You,” she sighs, trailing her eyes over Alex’s face slowly, “You deserve an _amazing_ romance. Special nights, to be treated right.”

“That’s why I’m here with you,” she murmurs. She doesn’t say that every night she spends with Maggie is special to her. That being with Maggie is exactly how she would choose to spend her nights time and time again, anywhere.

But she knows that Maggie knows by the way her eyes brighten so much, Alex thinks that the sun and the moon are both reflected in them despite being inside.

They eat, continuing to hold hands without even realizing it, as Maggie falls into telling Alex about the case and her paperwork, and Alex tells her about her day at work – as through she hadn’t texted her about it earlier – and she stays long past their meal being done.

It’s over two hours later that Maggie is walking her out of the building, despite the fact that she still has to get paperwork done.

“I meant to leave sooner,” she admits, as they walk down the steps, hands swinging slightly between them, “I didn’t want to derail your night.”

Maggie stops and tugs on Alex’s hand enough to stop her, letting her pause to see her shaking her head solemnly, “You were the best part of my night; paperwork derailed it.”

She knows that her relief is showing in her smile, “Yeah?”

Maggie quirks an eyebrow as she steps to the side, drawing them closer to the side of the building, “Well, it’s not every day your girlfriend brings your favorite dinner to completely turn around your day after being forced to cancel on her.”

She can feel her heart stutter in her chest, “Girlfriend?”

The hand holding hers tightens fractionally and she can see her swallow, before Maggie tilts her head, “I, uh, well, I figured, because of the _love_ part, but I at least should have waited until the very end of our date to ask you…”

“Then you admit it’s a date?” she grins, even while she can feel the blood rushing through her veins at the word. Girlfriend.

Maggie pauses, looking almost a little flustered by herself – which Alex guesses means she’s probably feeling actually flustered inside. She doesn’t need Maggie to tell her that she’s never before referred to anyone as her girlfriend so quickly, so easily.

And then she blows out a breath, an adorable smile tugging at her mouth, “Yeah. It was a date, Danvers,” her voice is low, and she shakes her head, “Besides, I don’t want you to think I didn’t notice all of this.”

She uses her free hand to gesture up and down, tilting her head appreciatively, and Alex can feel warmth pool in her stomach. “What kind of girlfriend would I be, dressing down for our first date?”

Maggie scoffs slightly, around her smile. And Alex swears she doesn’t know the last time she has seen Maggie smile so much… and the fact that it’s because of her is – headier than even the most powerful drink she’s ever had.

“You could wear anything and any date would be perfect,” Maggie informs her, her voice dipping just a bit, as she hooks her finger into Alex’s belt loop.

And her stomach drops because Maggie can _do that_ now. She can hook her fingers into her belt loop and tug Alex forward by the hips. It’s fucking ridiculous how her knees go weak with the movement, and it’s easy to be backed into the wall.

Especially with Maggie’s body, solid and warm and just a breath away from completely pressing against her. Alex would gladly take that breath to feel Maggie even closer.

It’s not a surprise when Maggie leans in – leans up – and touches her lips against hers. Because this is happening and it’s real and she is really on a date with Maggie Sawyer.

Soft, exploring lips brush against her own – once, twice, and then settling the third time. And each touch sends a tingle shooting through her body, right to her core, as her hand strokes up Maggie’s back.

She can feel the lean muscle there and it’s so easy to be able to picture just how it would look under her hands. She grips a bit harder at her shoulder and revels in the way it makes Maggie’s mouth part on a hum into her own.

Maggie’s tongue slides against hers and she slides her hand up higher, to be able to sift her fingers into dark hair, pulling her even closer. Close enough that now the breath between their bodies is entirely gone, and Maggie’s hands both settle on her hips, her thumbs stroking in soft circles that elicit unstoppable, soft sounds from the back of Alex’s throat.

God, she doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to this. The way Maggie’s mouth on hers makes her breathless, makes her blood instantly run hotter, makes her feel like she could spend forever doing just – this.

She doesn’t ever want to get used to it, either.

Maggie runs her hands slowly up to her waist – she can feel the warmth of her fingers through her shirt, and it drives her a little crazy, as she slowly strokes back down. She nips lightly at Maggie’s lip in response, and it’s far, far too soon when the hands on her hips flex and Maggie pulls back.

Not far. Just far enough, though, so they aren’t kissing, but close enough that she can nuzzle her nose against Maggie’s without moving more than scant centimeters. Close enough that she can feel Maggie smile because of it.

“I’ve never regretted having to call off any personal plans for work in my life. Before you,” Maggie breathes against her lips, and Alex can feel her fingers press teasing patterns into her hips.

It makes her shiver, all the way up her spine, even before she presses their foreheads together. “I know what you mean. And I think you’ll have plenty of times to show me just how understanding you are about when I have to spend late nights at work, too.”

Actually, she knows it for a fact. She knows that Maggie has a lot she wants to do, a lot she wants to prove, and so does she; they both always have. It’s one of the things that’s made them work so well together as friends.

“How much do you want to bet that someday soon when you’re working late, you have your favorite dinner mysteriously delivered?” Maggie murmurs as she slants her mouth against Alex’s again. It’s brief, and just a brush of lips, really, but Alex’s breath still shudders out with the feeling.

Her fingers toy with the tips of Maggie’s hair, feeling the softness, as they pull back. She needs to take a second before she’s able to say, “You know I can’t resist a bet.”

“I’m counting on it,” she whispers, ducking her head just enough to press her lips to Alex’s jaw.

Before she can even tighten her hands in her hair, though, Maggie is pulling back with a deep breath as she smooth her hands over Alex’s hips, and dropping them to her sides, just as Alex’s fall to her own.

Maggie’s eyes are even darker than usual, and her lips are the slightest bit swollen and she looks so good, Alex’s hands itch to pull her closer again. As she blows out a deep breath, Maggie runs her own hands through her hair, before she quirks a grin, “If I don’t make myself go back inside now, I never will.”

“And that would be bad…?” she jokes, as she runs her own hand over her stomach. As if that would do anything to quell this excitement inside, like her nerves are jangling but somehow in the best way.

“Let me know when you get home safe, Danvers. We have future plans to keep,” she reminds her with a playful smile, and a twinkle in her eyes.

And Alex takes a moment to just mirror it. Because the future sounds pretty good.


	2. I Fell In Love With The Sparkle Of The Moonlight

Maggie finally manages to take Alex on their second date three days after their first.

And sure, it’s only three days, but it feels like forever, and Maggie’s never anticipated a date more.

If all goes according to plan, it’ll have three parts and it starts in the late afternoon on a Saturday.

She had to move some things around, rearrange a few of her original ideas, but – this is going to be even better. It _has_ to be even better; Maggie’s never wanted a date to go so well in her entire life.

She has no doubt that Alex is going to _say_ she’s having a good time even if Maggie doesn’t deliver on an amazing date. Because Alex is Alex, and Maggie knows her. But because she knows her, she also knows how to tell when Alex is genuinely happy.

So, Maggie paces slightly outside of the agreed upon area, taking a deep breath as she links her fingers in front of her and waits. Everything is planned and timed out, and if everything has gone according to her plan, then –

She hears Alex before she sees her.

“Seriously, Kara, you bring me out on a walk – that you insist I dress up for, nonetheless – make me bring my jacket _in case of weather shift_ , and we walk halfway across town to the mini-golf place, when you’ve refused to even play in almost ten years since the thing with the wind mill –”

“The wind mill moved faster than it should have to knock my ball out of place, Alex, and you know it,” Kara interjects with a huff, and Maggie can already feel herself grinning as she turns to see the Danvers sisters approach from the park entrance/exit a few feet away.

And she swears her stomach bottoms out at the sight of her. In tight jeans with a scoop neck tank top and her hair tousled in that perfect way Alex somehow always manages, even after she’s been asleep, she looks like everything Maggie’s ever wanted.

Then again, she thinks Alex has and always will look like that to her.

God. The fact that she is here for a date with Alex Danvers, the woman who is her girlfriend, the woman who is in love with her, leaves Maggie feeling breathless despite the fact that she’s standing in one place.

“Yeah, because you aren’t a sore loser _at all_. But either way – all of the sudden, you drag me here because you want to play?” the dubious tone in Alex’s voice is clear to Maggie from where she stands and it just makes her smile wider.

It’s just so Alex.

“I’m not the one here for a game,” Kara says with an impish tone and Maggie can see her face from over Alex’s shoulder. She’s beaming and rocking slightly on her heels, and Maggie knows – it’s showtime.

She takes a deep breath and starts to walk toward them, towards Alex, and she can see the exact moment Kara’s words dawn on her because her back straightens and she spins around when Maggie is only a couple of feet away.

The little crinkle in her eyebrow is there until her eyes land on Maggie, and the look in them warms so much that she thinks the temperature of the day ticks up a few degrees as a smile plays around the corners of her lips, “Maggie?”

It’s only been two days since she’d seen her; game night had been the night after their date, and this game night in particular had ended with Alex walking her out and pressing her against the wall next to where her motorcycle was parked in the parking garage and kissing her until Maggie’s knees had felt weak and she’d had to take another couple of moments to gather her bearings even after Alex had left.

But she still feels like she’s drinking Alex in like she hasn’t seen her in weeks. Or longer.

This is what it’s supposed to be like, she thinks, and she can’t stop grinning if she tried.

“The one and only,” she says and she knows that the playful, confident tone she has really doesn’t do this feeling in her stomach justice. Which, she’s happy about. But, still, she thinks this might be the first time in her life she enjoys having this slight jangle of nerves in her stomach. She can manage this feeling for Alex.

Alex waves her hand slightly in her direction and then at the mini-golf place behind her, “What are – I thought you had to work today?”

Well, she’d thought that because Maggie has been working every Saturday in the last month, and because she’d texted her this morning telling her she had to go into the station. Which, she did.

She tilts her head, “The power of misdirection,” she teases, before shaking her head, “I did have to work, a bit, earlier. Had to get some stuff done,” she evades explaining, fully, because she doesn’t want to give anything away in the least, “But the rest of the evening is all about you, and our second date.”

“Our second date?” Alex echoes, her eyes widening for a moment, and it seems to take her repeating the words for everything to dawn on her before she turns to face her beaming sister, “You were in on this?”

And she swears Kara almost preens, “And you always say I can’t keep a secret.”

“You can’t,” both she and Alex say back, because that much is true. She can see Kara’s tells even just from where she is now, and she’d _heard_ Alex questioning her when they’d approached.

But Alex is giving her sister a fond look and Maggie can’t help but feel the same for the younger Danvers, even as she indignantly gestures at Alex while glaring at Maggie, “You can’t make fun of me when I kept your secret _and_ delivered your package on time.”

“And I appreciate that,” she gives her a warm smile that somewhere along the line in the last four years she’d adopted for the younger woman.

She does mean it, because she’d wanted this to be a surprise for Alex; she wanted to sweep her off of her feet. To give her a date that she deserved, and Kara had been more than willing to help her make that want come true.

“And this is where I shall make my exit,” Kara announces, “Have fun,” she directs at the both of them, before adding with a little narrowing of her eyes, “But not _too_ much fun.”

Alex rolls hers at her sister, “Bye,” and only hesitates a moment before she reaches out to squeeze at her arm, “And, thanks. Love you.”

Kara responds in kind, and as she walks away, Maggie steps even closer to Alex. Close enough that there are still a few inches between them, but finally close enough that she can breathe in her light perfume and it makes her spine tingle, “So, surprise?”

Alex scoffs out a laugh – her nerd laugh, really, but Maggie fucking loves it – before she shakes her head slightly, “Definite surprise.” She bites at her bottom lip before she meets Maggie’s eyes before she leans in.

Her lips brush against Maggie’s and only linger for a few seconds. Just enough for Maggie to feel the softness and the slight chill and stickiness there and taste the hint of strawberry that tells her there had been a detour for ice cream in the park.

It’s too brief, considering she feels like she could devour Alex every time they kiss, but she knows it’s for the best when Alex pulls back soon. They have things to do, and it’s already after four in the afternoon.

“So, this is a date?” Alex asks, her voice low, and there is that little tone of wonder in it that she’s had for the last week, every time their relationship is brought up. Not that Maggie can blame her… she’s positive she has the same tone.

On one hand, she can’t wait to get to a point in time where being with Alex like this isn’t new but something familiar. On the other, she never wants to lose this wonder. Then again, she isn’t sure if the two are mutually exclusive.

“Without a doubt,” Maggie tells her after taking a deep breath. She wants it to be more than a date. She wants it to be _the_ date.

The one that can prove to Alex that she’s in this, that she might not be perfect but that she wants to give Alex as much as she can.

And, today that starts with mini-golf. Which, admittedly, is new for Maggie. She can’t remember the last time she’d taken a woman to mini-golf for a date in this decade. But Alex isn’t any woman, either.

“So, you were determined to make today a covert mission to surprise me with mini-golf,” Alex murmurs and she can tell by the look on her face that her big brain is working to connect dots. Dots that Maggie knows she probably won’t connect, at least not yet, and that makes her grin.

“For starters,” she says, keeping her voice as aloof as possible. It’s difficult when she can feel herself grinning beyond her control. “I guess you’ll just have to see where the evening leads us.”

She holds her hand out to Alex, who doesn’t hesitate before slim fingers intertwine with her own and hold firmly. She knows it’s new, but she loves the way Alex holds onto her like this, like she doesn’t intend to let go.

“I hope you know that just because you’re my girlfriend doesn’t mean I can just let you walk away with a victory,” Alex tells her, a very familiar glint in her eye that makes Maggie huff out a chuckle as they walk into the entrance.

“I wouldn’t be so sure you’ll need to let me,” she retorts, flexing her fingers around Alex’s.

And Alex gives her an affronted look, “I was the reigning champion at the course in Midvale, you know.”

Maggie shrugs, unaffected. Of course she’d known. She’s been banking on it, just like she’s been banking on the fact that Alex hasn’t actually done this since high school.

And, naturally, it doesn’t really matter all that much. Because over an hour later and on the last hole, Alex is kicking her ass big time. It’s worth it to see the enjoyment on Alex’s face and to know that part one of her plan is paying off.

It’s also more than worth it to have Alex press against her and “show” her the correct way to putt. It doesn’t matter how competitive she is; her entire body has a thrill shot through it when Alex touches her like that.

So, even though she lost by a decent margin, she’s in high spirits and only feeling the slightest bit of nerves still as she leads Alex to their next destination.

“Bowling,” Alex comments, a little surprise still in her tone, “I really didn’t know what was coming next, but I didn’t expect this,” she admits.

“Disappointed?” Maggie pauses before heading inside, where they should have a lane reserved and, assuming everything is on schedule, a pre-bowling snack.

And Alex, still with a slightly speculative look on her face, shakes her head, “No. Not at all. Just… thinking.”

She leads her inside, heart still beating a little fast as they approach their lane.

“Not quite dinner, yet,” she tells Alex as she sees that their food is already there. Which, is good, because that means everything is still according to plan, “Just a snack.”

When she goes to tug Alex forward, though, she meets resistance, and looks at her in confusion as she bites her lip, “I know it doesn’t seem like much,” she starts, because that’s what she’s afraid of.

And Alex shakes her head, that small crinkle in her eyebrows again, “Anywhere with you is enough.” She looks around again, before she says, “Isn’t this the first place I took you to hang out outside of the bar?”

Maggie’s breath of relief leaves her easily, and she nods. It’s not like she really goes bowling all that often, but she does have a soft spot in her heart for this little place because of that.

The fluttering of anxiety that maybe this isn’t going to be _enough_ that she’s had in her stomach calms a bit, though, with the warm look in Alex’s eyes. Those expressive eyes that glimpse over the table at the top of their lane, though, before moving back and locking on Maggie’s, “Mini-golf and bowling, with cheesy overpriced nachos and milkshakes,” her voice is low and reverent.

And Maggie’s hand comes up to brush at her chin as she tentatively smiles at Alex, “And, you’ve figured it out.”

Alex just stares, though, at her. Staring at her, focused and Maggie feels like Alex can see right through her when she does this, and she almost wants to fidget but she doesn’t let herself.

“My teenage date,” Alex mutters after a few moments, before her head shakes a bit on a soft chuckle, “I can’t believe you remember this.”

It’s a strange mix of gratification and happiness and still that bit of nerves in the pit of her stomach at the look on Alex’s face, “You can’t?”

She turns to face Maggie again, her voice full of disbelief as she gestures at the table, “I – Maggie, I told you _two years ago_ when we were drinking at the bar about all of this. I didn’t think… I can’t believe you remembered this,” she repeats.

Two years ago, when they’d been drinking together, and Alex had tipsily told her about how being gay made so much sense. It had been still while things were a little tentative between them, after Alex had kissed her and come out to her, and they were still getting their friendship back on track.

And she’d told Maggie all about how she never understood why the cheesy dates like mini-golf and bowling and over-priced nachos and milkshakes that she’d been on as a teenager seemed like they’d be fun in theory but had always disappointed her.

A few drinks later, she’d sighed and given Maggie a look in those big, brown eyes that she hadn’t been able to decipher at the time as she’d said, “I think I would get it, now.”

She’s been thinking about that in the last week since Alex’s confession – thinking about a lot of their past moments, actually – and wondering if maybe Alex was referencing to _her_ in those double meanings. The thought that it could be true is still unreal and a head rush.

Maggie shrugs, “I guess I wanted you to feel the way you talked about. With me. As an adult, obviously. Which, I know, might be dumb –”

Alex cuts her off, her lips pressing against Maggie’s and making the words fall so easily down her throat and only seconds later she’s blinking up into Alex’s soft smile, “You’re perfect.” And she dips down again to murmur near Maggie’s ear after she takes a deep breath, “And you were exactly who I was thinking of.”

She shivers when Alex pulls back.

“Sure, Danvers,” she scoffs the slightest bit. The word _perfect_ rattles in her mind like it’s begging for Maggie to dismiss the notion aloud, but she can’t actually say it when Alex is giving her that look. The one like Maggie hung the moon.

Instead, she can’t help but smile, the remaining nerves that this wasn’t good enough of a date dying down, “Come on. We’re on a schedule,” she says lightly, winking, as she leads Alex to their lane.

“There’s something else after this?” Alex asks as she trails behind her.

Maggie only lifts her eyebrows, “You’ll see. I hope you enjoy these nachos, because there’s no way you’re going to beat me in this, too.”

Their first game ends in a tie, though, and she’d forgotten how good Alex is at this. But unlike mini-golf, Maggie’s no slouch, either. There weren’t a ton of teenage hangouts in Nebraska, and she’d spent enough time at the bowling alley. And damn if she doesn’t love this little rush of competitive thrill she gets whenever they’re together.

It’s almost addictive.

But if Alex actually knocks down the two remaining pins with this ball, Maggie’s going to lose.

And she doesn’t necessarily think that’s fair when Alex had _accidentally_ run her hand down Maggie’s back and brushed a bit over the curve of her ass right before Maggie’s last turn. Which had so easily – alarmingly easily, really – made her a little weaker in the knees than she’d like to admit, and her hands shake just a bit when she’d taken her turn and underperformed.

But it’s because of that, that she has no qualms about her plan as she watches Alex line up her shot – taking a few moments to admire her form openly because she can – as she crosses her arms and leans back, and waiting until the perfect moment.

Before she clears her throat and takes a deep breath and says, “Have I ever told you that I thought we were dating when we first met?”

Alex misses the pins.

And, bonus for Maggie because she hadn’t necessarily thought through the repercussions of opening that particular story to Alex, she manages to distract her from her line of questions about that entirely embarrassing “date” when she leads Alex outside.

Because her girlfriend stops where she’s walking, pausing to stare at her car before turning curiously to Maggie, “Your patrol car?”

She smiles, “Date’s not over yet, Danvers. Ever been out on a date in a police cruiser?”

Really, the cruiser was just a necessity given how she’d had to do a bit of running around after leaving work in the morning. But it does help her a bit when, nearly a half hour later, they arrive at their final destination, and the security guard waves her in.

“The planetarium?” Alex asks as they get out of the car, and Alex’s hand seeks out Maggie’s like they’re magnetized, but there is no world in which she would complain. “But – it’s almost eight. It’s been closed for over two hours.”

Maggie needs to take a moment because, “Of course you _would_ know when the planetarium closes.”

She’s pretty sure that she’s in love with the world’s biggest nerd. Actually, she knows it.

Alex ducks her head a bit as they approach the entrance, her eyebrows furrowing when the doors open for them, “But –”

“You’d be amazed what a little chat with the head of security who just so happens to have a kid who really wanted a ride in a cop car can do,” she keeps her voice light, thinking about the drive up here she’d taken earlier to arrange everything.

“Ever abused your police privileges for a date?” Alex echoes her earlier words with a laugh in her voice, but when Maggie looks at her she can see the wonder written all over her face.

It makes Maggie feel like a hero.

“Never,” she says, even though she can’t stop the mischievous smile on her face. Even though… no, she really hadn’t.

There’s never been anyone else in her entire life that has ever made Maggie resort to making any sort of deals using her badge. Not that this would have any reflection on her career in the least, but still…

She knows that there’s no one else who would drive her to do this, to want to pull any strings in order to make a night as flawless as possible.

She thinks that Alex gets it, though, when she grasps her hand a bit tighter and her other one comes to wrap lightly around Maggie’s arm and squeezes, a smile seemingly glued to her lips. Which is something Maggie kinda loves to see. More than kinda.

Her stomach tingles with nerves that she’d thought had finally gone away when she leads Alex into the room she’d had prepared. Where the front of the room was cleared out, cleaned, and a blanket was laid out with the picnic basket – and, god, she was relieved.

It was all here. Everything for the last step of their date was in order.

Her hand felt cold as Alex’s disentangled and she watched as her girlfriend walked slowly farther into the room, her mouth slightly open. She looked up at the projections up on the walls and the ceilings, before standing in front of the picnic area, and shaking her head, before she turned back to face Maggie, “I… when did you _do_ all of this?”

Hands sliding into her back pockets to try to calm her nerves – which _why_ were they even here? She doesn’t know – she uses her foot to nudge at the doorstop and closes the door, leaving them reflected in only the light from the projected sky and the candles.

“I, well, I didn’t do this, myself. Clearly. I was with you,” her lips quirk into a smile as she takes a deep breath and walks closer, “Uh, well, I had Kara get you to mini-golf. And had Flores go to get your favorite food from that burger place –”

“The one we found, like three weeks after we met? On the outskirts of the city?” Alex asks, her tone incredulous and when Maggie gets closer she can see the way her eyebrows are so high on her forehead, giving her those crinkles.

And she bites at the inside of her lip as she nods and continues, “Yeah, well, he owes me, anyway,” especially after ribbing her about Alex for _years_ , “And then I had him meet up with Lucy, because Kara had to finish the story she’s working on this afternoon, so that Lucy could help set up all of this, while we were out,” she finishes and gestures to the setup she has.

Alex is still shaking her head and Maggie doesn’t even know if she’s really in control of it because she looks like she’s still in disbelief, “I can’t believe you did all this.”

She feels like her nerves are all jangling together and she tells Alex, “I wanted it to be perfect for you.”

“Maggie, you said _I_ went to too much trouble bringing you dinner at the station. You… you remembered the date my teenage self wanted to go on, took me on it, and now – here?” her voice falls to a whisper.

The stars that blink down on them brightly reflect off of Alex’s hair, and then in her eyes when she gets close enough and the sheer emotion she sees in them makes her heart stutter in her chest. As if she needed that with the way it’s pounding.

“You deserve it,” she says, and it’s like she barely has any control over her own body as she sways closer, into Alex’s body heat.

Because Alex deserves everything, and Maggie wants so badly to be able to give it to her. She wants so badly for Alex to never have any reason to doubt this, to doubt her. To regret this.

Alex takes a deep breath and moves even closer, and Maggie feels her stomach so tight in knots even as soft hands move to cup her jaw, “I loved everything about tonight,” she states, her voice so firm that Maggie really can’t doubt it, and when she feels her thumbs draw light circles over skin, she can’t suppress her shiver, “And I love that you remembered all of this, that you came up with this whole elaborate plan in less than three days.”

She shrugs lightly, but before she can say anything, Alex’s warm breath is washing over her lips as she moves even closer and uses her hands so that Maggie can’t look anywhere but into those eyes.

“But mostly? I love you. And I’d love doing anything with you, elaborate dates or not,” and the sincerity in them makes Maggie feel like the luckiest woman alive. Alex leans down and presses a kiss to the corner of Maggie’s mouth and it’s so soft she can feel her breath shiver out, “I fell in love with you in our bar and during game nights and watching horror movies. You don’t have anything to prove to me.”

She doesn’t know what it is in those words that makes something inside of her shift in a way that she can almost feel it. But it’s like the confirmation she needed without knowing she’d needed it.

It’s going to take some getting used to, she thinks, being with someone who does know her so completely. Being with someone who knows her history – family and dating – knows her defense mechanisms, and knows what her actions mean even when she can’t put them into words.

But she thinks for the first time that she’s really ready for it.

And she closes her eyes and nods, her forehead brushing against Alex’s, before she tilts her head back as her hands come up to stroke at slim hips. A place that, even though this is still new for them, her hands feel like they were made to be here.

“Alex, this… this is real for me,” she tells her, because it’s _true_ and this is the best way she knows how to say it. “I know it’s technically only our second date, but I’m in this. And I need you to know that.”

She can feel the deep breath Alex lets out more than hear it, before she smiles widely down at her, “I do know it. And it’s real for me, too.”

The thing about Alex that’s different from anyone else in her life? Maggie has no doubts that she means what she says.

Alex’s soft hands, still stroking lightly at her jaw, draw another light pattern against her skin, before her nails scratch lightly down her neck and fall to her sides.

“You know, it’s going to be pretty hard to top this,” her voice is playful and somehow it’s exactly what Maggie needs to hear for her shoulders to completely relax, and when they do, somehow she feels _completely_ relaxed.

“Yeah, well, you’re a double doctor, I’m sure you’ll be able to figure something out,” she teases as Alex leads her to sit down.

It’s after they’re done eating and they’re settled laying down on the blanket that Alex asks, “Did you happen to choose this location because I said that my teenage self thought about ending a date with kissing under the stars?”

Maggie smiles, turning her head to the side, “Well, this _was_ supposed to be a perfect recreation of your younger self’s ideal date. But I’ll plead the fifth.”

She doesn’t say that it’s also because the stars remind her of Alex. Remind her of the night they’d spent on the beach where Alex had told her about her dad, had pointed out constellations, where Maggie had taken the final leap and told her all about her own family.

There’s something in the stars that she associates with Alex, now, and this just seemed like the right place to go.

And if it just so happened that there could very well be some making out under these stars, then she is absolutely not opposed. In fact, she’s more than wanting.

Alex rolls onto her side, cocking an eyebrow, a challenging smirk on her face, “Well do you want to discuss that, or would you prefer to tell me about this whole you-thought-we-had-gone-on-a-date thing? I’m interested in both topics.”

She groans, pushing herself onto her side to face Alex, “I’m going to regret telling you that.”

“Probably,” Alex agrees, a grin still on her face, but fading just a bit as her eyes flicker to Maggie’s mouth.

“I’m willing to bet you could be easily distracted at the moment,” she murmurs as she rolls a bit more so that she’s leaning over Alex, pressing in close enough that she can feel Alex’s body entirely against her own and her breath catches in her throat as she lowers her head a bit, feeling Alex’s breath against her.

That breath quickens, matching the pace of Maggie’s heart at the moment, before Alex breathes, “Probably.”

She is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know your thoughts and feelings! 
> 
> Thank you so, so much for the response to this story so far, I'm amazed at it (and intend to reply to all of the comments tonight!). 
> 
> And thank you to Laura, without whom this story wouldn't exist and especially this chapter and the second date.


	3. I Want You Baby, Solamente

If someone had told Alex it would take over a month of officially dating Maggie to have sex with her, she might have laughed in disbelief.

As it is, they’ve been dating for just over a month now, and in spite of the fact that she wants Maggie – god, does she want her and _has_ for literal years – it just hasn’t all come together, no pun intended, for them yet.

It wasn’t for lack of desire, Alex thinks, as she unlocks Maggie’s apartment door to let herself in.

“Tonight,” she murmurs, a small grin on her face, even as a nervous jolt shoots through her. Because she has a plan, and that plan is going to result in her surprising Maggie and hopefully having the night that both of them want.

And deserve, after all this waiting.

Their picture-perfect second date three weeks ago had ended with a very passionate make-out under the stars in the planetarium… and then even more slow, deep, heavy kisses in the police car when Maggie had parked outside of Alex’s apartment to drop her off.

And even then, Alex had been more than ready to bring Maggie upstairs with her. Maggie, who had looked at her with eyes so dark with desire and lips deliciously swollen and red from their night together, whose voice had been low and needy as she’d told Alex that she had to get the police car back for the morning, and she also had an early morning shift.

The three weeks since had been somewhat of a whirlwind.

An amazing whirlwind, one of which Alex is still getting used to being her reality, because she wouldn’t have even dared let herself have this dream.

But a whirlwind nonetheless, that also involved Maggie heading up new case as well as Alex having to go to a conference in Boston. A week and a half long conference in Boston, wherein she’d missed her girlfriend so much it had been almost painful.

A week and a half long conference that had meant early mornings every day, meanwhile staying up hours later than typical to be able to talk to Maggie after she had left the police station for the night.

A week and a half that she had been left with her thoughts, including her last evening that she’d spend in National City before leaving. The night that she and Maggie had caught a late dinner and drinks at their bar, before Maggie had walked her home. The anticipation that night had been ramped up – there had been that sparkle in Maggie’s eyes that told Alex even without a couple of drinks that her girlfriend’s very chivalrous streak of “not wanting to go too fast” was over.

When Alex had barely gotten her key in the lock after inviting Maggie up, her hands trembling in anticipation, before Maggie had kissed at her neck and strong, sure hands had landed on her hips and turned her around to back her against the door.

Maggie’s mouth on hers, then on her neck, her breathing heavy and hot against her as her hips had grinded into Alex’s, her leg sliding between Alex’s legs, had been almost enough to forgo even fully entering the apartment, because Alex probably could have come right there.

And then Kara, who was supposed to be working late, had pulled the apartment door open, with a confused proclamation of, “Alex? Is your key not working?”

It was enough to thoroughly ruin the mood of her last night in National City pre-conference, even as Maggie had dropped her head to Alex’s shoulder and huffed out a disbelieving laugh against her.

Some of their late-night conversations in the last week and a half had taken a turn for the semi-inappropriate. Enough that Alex swore her entire body was about to combust if she had to continue to wait any longer for her girlfriend to really touch her.

And when Maggie’s voice had dipped last night right as they were saying goodbye to murmur, “You have no idea how much I wish I’d taken you back to my place the night before you left,” it was almost like Alex didn’t have a choice _but_ to hop a flight a day earlier than she was scheduled, to surprise Maggie tonight.

She hasn’t even told Kara she would be arriving early, because she knows that would amount to her sister wanting her to rehash her conference with her and asking if she’d brought back the pastries Kara had requested from a bakery she’d read about online.

Which – she has the box of pastries. But her sister can wait.

Despite the fact that she is more than a little keyed up with anticipation and want and – all right, a bit of nerves, because despite the fact that she _knows_ by now that Maggie desires her the same way she does Maggie, it’s still the first time – she sets her bag down next to the couch only moments before dropping to the cushions herself.

Talking to Maggie until after two in the morning, and then waking up before six to cancel the one end-of-conference event and reschedule her flight, before packing and getting to the airport in time, let alone the flight itself and the general exhaustion from the conference… well, it hadn’t boded well for being well-rested.

And, she checks her watch as she lays back into the comfortable cushions that smell enticingly of Maggie, she has at least two hours before Maggie is due to be back home.

That gives her at least an hour to nap before she has to get up, shower, and put on the lingerie she may have bought special for this occasion.

In a store at the airport, but _still_.

It’s almost thoughtless for her to reach out and pull one of Maggie’s throw pillows to her chest as she rests her eyes. Only for a little while.

When she wakes up, it’s not to an alarm on her phone. It’s to soft, familiar fingers carding through her hair, and it’s a feeling Alex has grown more than accustomed to through not only the last month of dating Maggie, but even from their years of friendship.

Maggie’s hands, sliding through her hair softly and very gently tugging at the ends where Alex is sure some knots have formed through the day, makes her feel like she’s _home_ , and she snuggles in for a moment before she realizes –

Shit.

Brown eyes open, wide, up to meet Maggie’s smiling ones, “Hey, Danvers. You know, I’ve had many fantasies, but I never imagined coming home to a real-life sleeping beauty on my couch.”

She drinks in those dimples like she hasn’t seen them in months rather than in just a week and a half, before she shakes herself out of it, “What time is it?”

Her voice is annoyingly groggy, especially as she’s already cursing herself for ruining her plans for the night.

“A little after ten. I worked later than I expected,” Maggie tells her back in a whisper, her hands falling from Alex’s hair to her hands, “I texted you. But I guess I can see now why you didn’t answer.”

Her teasing is gentle, but there’s still that questioning head tilt there.

Alex blows out a sigh before pushing herself up, “I – after last night, I wanted to surprise you and –” her eyes dart to her bag where her lingerie is, and she can feel her feels heat just a bit, before she drops her head into the hand that isn’t holding Maggie’s, “And I ended up sleeping for almost four hours.”

Instead of being up, all fresh, and looking as sexy as possible for when Maggie would get home.

“Hey,” Maggie’s voice is that gentled tone that only comes out in special occasions or for certain people, and Alex does take pride in knowing that she is one of those people, “I _am_ surprised. I thought I was going to have to go another entire day without you here,” her hand squeezes Alex’s lightly.

Before she dips her head and brushes her mouth against Alex’s. And in spite of the crushing annoyance at herself, she can’t help but sigh against Maggie’s lips.

Because she’s spent years with only one kiss from Maggie to dwell on – the kiss that she’d let herself believe was a mistake, the one where Maggie had thought she was drunk. But now she’s had so many Maggie-kisses, she can’t even count them anymore, and she wonders if she will ever be used to them. To the feeling of Maggie’s mouth on hers.

This one is soft and brief – too brief, really – and she sighs again when they part.

Which turns into a small yawn, and she rolls her eyes at herself, sheepishly admitting, “I’m glad you’re surprised at least with that. But… it wasn’t exactly the one I had intended.”

The one where Maggie would come back to her apartment, see Alex in lingerie, and have her jaw drop. The kind that her sweet, and patient, and sexy as hell girlfriend deserved to come home to.

“I just – I had this whole idea where you would come in and I would be dressed in, uh, less,” her cheeks burn, “And it would be this whole – like out of the fantasy thing you told me about,” her voice dips into a whisper as she thinks about how Maggie had mentioned one of their phone calls when they’d talked in hushed voices about situations they’d off-handedly thought of before.

And coming home to a beautiful woman, waiting for her, after a long day of work had been the beginning of one of Maggie’s. 

But Maggie just shakes her head and those dark eyes hold Alex’s in the soft lighting from the lamp next to the couch, “As far as I’m concerned, that has been met. I came home to find you waiting here, didn’t I?” she teases, before standing and tugging on Alex’s hand. “Now, come on. You’ve yawned twice while we’ve been talking, and I know you’ve had a long week.” She bites at her bottom lip in a way Alex can’t help but stare at before she lightly shakes her head, “Come to bed.”

Alex lifts her eyebrows, even as she swallowed heavily and takes in her girlfriend in a way she hadn’t been able to when Maggie had been kneeling next to the couch. Dressed in fitted dress pants and a black-button down, with her badge still clipped to it, and it works more than well enough to ignite the want she has constantly inside of her for this woman.

Who is squeezing her eyes closed for a second before assuring, “Not to do anything other than sleep. You don’t have to – you’re exhausted, and it’s late, and we’ve shared a bed for nights before we were even dating…”

“I’ll stay,” Alex interrupts, because _yes_ , god yes she wants to spend the night with Maggie. There are fewer things she can think of that she wants more than spending the night here, curled up with Maggie, in her bed.

It’s the entire reason she skipped the last day of her conference.  

“And, um, what if I want to do something more than sleep?” she gets out, biting her lip as she can feel her cheeks burn.

Which is stupid, so stupid, because in the last month she’s had her hands under Maggie’s shirt, dipped her mouth there, too, and even in the last week, had come _this close_ to phone sex, it wasn’t even funny.

Maggie lifts her eyebrows before blowing out a deep breath, the way she does when she’s trying to keep a lid over her self-control, “Yeah? We don’t have to –”

“I flew here a day early to surprise you with lingerie and sex,” she rushes out, “I’ve wanted you for years, which has only, like, multiplied rapidly in the last month.”

Maggie’s mouth snaps shut, and a look of contemplation that Alex is familiar with, mixed with undisguised desire that she’s still getting used to that sends a thrill through her instantly, crosses her features as she looks Alex up and down, “Lingerie?”

Her cheeks flush as she gestures at her bag, “I – it’s not on. I didn’t, well, I thought I would be ready for you –”

Her words get cut off against Maggie’s mouth, the kiss hotter than the soft one minutes ago. She feels Maggie’s hands frame her jaw as her lips mold to Alex’s, staying there for long moments as her thumbs stroke her cheeks.

When her own hands slide into Maggie’s hair, her girlfriend’s mouth parts, taking Alex’s bottom lip between hers and sucking. And Alex swears she feels it all over, unable to stop a quiet moan in the back of her throat.

She’s wanted to touch Maggie’s body, map her soft skin and all of her little scars, feel that lean, lithe body pressed against hers for years. The woman whose silky hair her hands are carding through, whose leanly muscled body is pressing close to hers is _Maggie Sawyer_.

That alone is enough to make sharp arousal slide through her, even before Maggie scratches lightly down her neck and nips at her lip. Her hips press forward, out of her control, pressing into Maggie’s, and it’s only then that she realizes Maggie’s hands have fallen down to rest there.

And she starts walking backwards, in the direction of Maggie’s bedroom, and her breathing is already getting a little ragged as Maggie’s mouth moves to her jaw.

“I don’t think anyone has ever quite described wanting sex with me in mathematical terms before. How rapidly has that multiplied, exactly?” Maggie teases, her breath hot against Alex’s neck before she nips her teeth in.

And Alex’s hips push up hard against her as she groans, “Stop mocking me.”

“Not mocking,” Maggie corrects, sucking on that spot she’d found under Alex’s ear weeks ago, the one that – ah, fuck – makes her whimper and clench around nothing, “I find your nerdiness unbelievably hot. Hotter than lingerie. Way hotter,” she seems to whisper to herself as those soft lips press to Alex’s clavicle where her sweater has dipped down.

“So – you, you’re good with this? My, uh, you’re so good at that,” she breathed, dragging her nails down Maggie’s back over her shirt, before landing on her ass and digging in.

When Maggie backs her into the doorway of her bedroom, her back being pressed against it hard as Maggie sinks her teeth into her neck in a way she’d discovered weeks ago that Alex _loves_.

And she really does love it, she’s soaked and this has barely even started. But she supposes that’s what happens when you’ve been attracted to the woman you’re about to be in bed with for years.

Maggie leans back just enough to lock eyes, both of them a little short of breath, “Am I good with my hot girlfriend flying back home early because she wants to have sex and doesn’t want to wait any longer?” her thumbs, having slipped under Alex’s loose sweater and are resting on the bare skin above her pants, rub in circles as she arches her eyebrows incredulously.

And Alex shudders even as she shrugs, trying not to feel self-conscious. Because what it was phrased like that, she sounds – well, a little desperate.

Then Maggie’s eyes twinkle up at her and her smirk is a little devious and it’s enough to send even more heat shooting between her legs, “I’m so good with that,” she murmurs as she pushes in to her, “I missed you,” she says against Alex’s neck, and she shudders with the warm breath, “And I’ve been going crazy with how much I want you.”

She doesn’t know exactly what it is about those words, because over the last month, they’ve made out more than she can count. She’s heard Maggie’s voice low and raspy and wanting in her ear, telling her about how she loves Alex’s ass and her legs and the freckles on her chest.

It never fails to amaze her, to excite her, to thrill her.

But right here and right now and knowing that this is _finally_ happening, despite the fact that it’s not happening in deference to her dumb plan, the words makes some tether Alex has had on her control snap.

She wants Maggie. She wants to feel body against her own with nothing in the way, nothing between them, and she wants her _now_.

It seems like Maggie’s feeling the same way, because as she’s tugging at Maggie’s shirt, damning the way it’s all buttoned up still as she gets it pulled out from the waistband, Maggie’s hands are under her shirt and stroking up her stomach, resting just below her bra as her thumbs stroke over Alex’s nipples.

Her hands clench in the fabric of Maggie’s shirt as she bites her lip because it shouldn’t feel so good just having her nipples played with. It shouldn’t make her shiver so hard, but it is, and she can’t stop the way her hips jerk, wanting pressure against Maggie.

Who presses right back, forcing her against the door and it’s so easy to slide her thigh between Maggie’s and to press up and feel even through both of their pants how ready Maggie is already.

It’s the headiest feeling Alex thinks she’s ever experienced, knowing that she turns Maggie on just as much as Maggie does to her. And despite the fact that her hands are shaking with hot aroused she is and how it’s tinged with the good kind of nerves, the excited kind, she gets Maggie’s shirt unbuttoned.

And the groan Maggie lets out against her neck and the way her fingers, pinching at Alex’s nipples, tense when she scratches her hand down her bare, toned stomach is everything.

Then Maggie’s mouth is on hers again, hard and hot, and she can feel the breathy sounds that come from the back of her girlfriend’s throat as she presses herself down against Alex’s thigh. She can’t stop her hands from roaming all of the soft skin she’s free to touch now. Now that Maggie’s shirt is out of the way and –

And then Maggie’s mouth is off of hers and her body warmth isn’t pushing Alex up against the door anymore, either.

“Christ, Danvers,” Maggie pants out, swallowing hard before she draws her hands through her hair, “I want to savor this. You. At least get you undressed and into my bed, first.”

It takes Alex a second to blink open her eyes and see Maggie standing in front of her. And, okay, in the last month, her hands had gone up Maggie’s shirt and she’s felt those abs – jesus, those abs – and smoothed her hands over her stomach and back, felt the weight of her breasts.

But she hasn’t seen her, not like this. In the past, she’s seen Maggie in her bikini and in sparing moments of undress in which she had resolutely not let herself look.

Right here and right now, she can look. And she takes all of her in, fixating for a moment on the completely healed but still scarred spot on Maggie’s right side, where she’d been grazed with a bullet only three months ago.

“Like what you see?” Maggie’s voice has that low rasp Alex has learned she gets when she’s turned on, and there’s some of that teasing that Maggie does so effortlessly.

And also a bit of vulnerability, that makes Alex’s eyes snap to her girlfriends.

“Love what I see,” she corrects, and she doesn’t let herself question before she reaches out to brush her hand against the scar on Maggie’s side, and then she uses the touch to guide them to Maggie’s bed, before she dips her head down and presses her mouth there.

Her kiss is light and brief and she wants Maggie to know that it’s not just this one part of her that she is kissing, but all of the pieces of Maggie and her life that she’s shared with Alex.

She feels Maggie’s hands in her hair even as she can feel the skin against her lips shiver, as Maggie says, “Sap,” in that affectionate tone.

Alex rolls her eyes but any retort is cut off when Maggie reaches back and undoes her bra, sliding it down her arms and leaving her completely bare to Alex’s gaze. Her hands itch to touch dark, hard nipples and to have them in her mouth while she feels Maggie grind down against her leg like she had been minutes ago.

And she wonders how transparent her wants are, because before she can even move, Maggie quickly turns them, and pushes Alex down onto her bed. She’s breathless not from the move but more from the fact that her girlfriend is straddling her lap, her completely uncovered chest is in front of Alex’s face, and she is going to have sex with Maggie Sawyer.

Her hands come up automatically to brace Maggie’s back and help balance her as she leans in, kissing just between her boobs as one of her hands slides over Maggie’s waist and inches upwards.

Only to be caught in one of Maggie’s, who tilts her head, “Here I am, completely topless, and there you are, still dressed. Seems a little one-sided to me.”

Alex’s hand flexes in hers, not really fighting the hold at all, but, “I want to touch you.”

And if there’s a needy edge to her voice, well, so be it. She’s waited years for this.

Maggie drags her hand back, sliding over the soft skin of her back once again, before she cups Alex’s neck and tilts her head up so they’re looking eye-to-eye, “I want you to touch me, too. Believe me.”

She does believe her, especially with the accompanying rock of Maggie’s hips into hers, and she can _feel_ her heat. Alex’s clit pulses and she knows beyond any doubt that she’s soaked through her underwear.

“But I want to see you. I want to feel you. I want to make you come, in my bed, saying my name. Do you know how long I’ve wanted that?” her voice dips again and it feels like it’s sliding over Alex’s nerve endings, and she swears she’s never been so turned on in her entire life, and she’s still fully clothed.

Her throat is dry and she can feel how fast her pulse is as Maggie presses teasing kisses along the column of her neck, “Well, you did think the first time we hung out was a date,” she manages to get out.

But before she can even enjoy that – which she’s joked a bit about since Maggie revealed it to her on their second date, but really it does give her such a rush that she really did want her so long ago – Maggie nips her teeth against her.

And as Alex’s head drops back on a groan as the pleasure shoots through her from that bite, she dimply realizes that Maggie’s deft hands have tugged up her sweater enough that all Alex has to do is lift her arms up to help get it off.

So she does, her hands still trembling a bit in anticipation and eagerness and –

She can’t even be nervous at all, not really, because Maggie leans back just a bit from where she’s still straddling her, as she takes her in. Her eyes are so dark, they’re nearly black she digs her teeth into her bottom lip before releasing a long, slow breath.

“So beautiful,” Maggie murmurs, and her hand is teasing lightly at the clasp of Alex’s bra as she leans back down.

Their kiss starts slowly, gentler than Alex had been expecting. But Maggie’s lips just brush against hers, and she feels the light touch everywhere. Before she uses her lips to part Maggie’s, sliding her tongue along her bottom lip before she sucks on her top one.

Maggie undoes her bra and Alex quickly throws that to join her shirt on the floor before wrapping her arms around Maggie’s waist and pulling her so close, they’re entirely pressed together.

The moan she lets out into Maggie’s mouth is almost embarrassing but she couldn’t stop it if she tried. Because Maggie’s hard nipples rubbing against her own is so stimulating and her hips jump up and press against hers.

And Maggie responds by grunting lightly and pressing Alex’s hard into the bed, rocking down against her as she sucks on her tongue and slides her hands down Alex’s back. Her nails drag, enough to leave Alex shuddering.

She barely registers that Maggie has slipped off of her lap and is instead kneeling between Alex’s legs until her hands slide down Alex’s thighs and then around to grip the back of her thighs.

When she lifts Alex, surprise shoots through her, and she doesn’t even have time to wrap her arms around Maggie before she’s laid down on her back, head on the pillows. She’s surrounded by Maggie’s scent, with Maggie pressing her into the bed, and her heart is pounding and – _fuck_ , she is so turned on right now.

“Did you really just lift me to lay me down like this, Detective Sawyer?” she asks, wanting to tease, but mostly she’s just breathless.

And Maggie looks up at her as her hands stroke over Alex’s sides to rest over her jeans, toying with the button for a moment as she winks, “Gotta have some tricks up my sleeve to keep you on your toes, Doctor Doctor Danvers.”

She lifts her hips to help Maggie tug off her pants, and loses her breath all over again when Maggie pulls off her own, and she can see how wet Maggie is, even with her underwear on, before she takes those off, too.

She can’t stop looking at her, running her eyes all over – from the strong, toned muscles in her thighs, up her stomach, her breasts, her arms, and how lucky she is that this is really her life.

It’s only when Maggie groans, “Jesus, Danvers. You’re perfect,” that brings her back to the moment and the fact that her girlfriend has been looking at her the entire time she’s been staring.

Then Maggie is above her, her hand bracing on the pillow next to Alex’s head as she kisses her again. This is hungry and Maggie’s tongue is licking into her mouth just enough to stroke against her own, teasing, as her other hand reaches down to scratch down Alex’s side.

She pauses on the way back up at her chest, her thumb stroking between them to brush against Alex’s nipple, and Alex wraps a leg around Maggie’s waist because she needs to feel her. She needs that friction, she needs _something_ , because she’s soaked and aching.

The muscles in Maggie’s back shift under her hands as she reaches one hand down to slide into Maggie’s underwear, squeezing her firm ass and dragging her closer.

Maggie’s mouth leaves hers and trails back down her neck, and Alex feels like all of her nerve endings are on fire as her girlfriend’s perfect, talented mouth places hot, open-mouthed kisses down her chest.

When she sucks at her nipple, Alex’s back arches off the bed and she can’t control the whine that leaves her as her hands slide into that soft hair, clenching as Maggie brings her hand up to roll her other nipple between her fingers.

“God,” she breathes out, and can’t control the shudder that wracks through her, “Maggie, I –”

She cuts herself off with a groan as Maggie presses her thigh between hers, at the same time that she does something with her tongue over the tip of her nipple that leaves Alex shaking.

“I want to taste you so badly,” Maggie says, pulling just far enough away that Alex can feel her warm breath against her.

“Then do it,” she tells her, and cants her hips against Maggie’s thigh. It’s – she can’t stop.

Maggie locks eyes with her as she hooks her fingers through the waist of Alex’s underwear and tugs them down her legs. And there’s just the slightest bit of self-consciousness that skitters through her as Maggie moves to lay between her thighs, because she’s laid completely bare here.

But Maggie is looking at her like she’s been starving and Alex feels the pleasure of knowing that _she’s_ what Maggie is so hungry for bloom in her chest.

Before Maggie kisses her inner thigh and uses her thumbs to part her open, licking up her slit and then Alex’s head falls back into the pillows as her eyes close. Maggie’s only just gotten started and her thigh is already starting to shake.

She can feel Maggie’s tongue dip inside of her and finally, she isn’t clenching on nothing, and she can hear how loud she moans, and she doesn’t care. Can’t care, not when Maggie starts fucking her with her tongue, moving slow, and then faster, and then slower again.

And the feeling in the pit of Alex’s stomach that has been burning the whole time is roaring to life. She feels almost lightheaded with how damn good Maggie’s mouth feels on her, and she pushes herself up on one elbow, even as she can feel herself trembling.

Because she wants to see –

When she does, when she sees Maggie’s head moving between her thighs, she whimpers and her clit pulses as Maggie nudges it with her nose.

Dark eyes meet Alex’s again as her lips wrap around her clit, her tongue lapping in circles, and Alex’s hand digs into her hair to keep her there. She’s so close, so fucking close to coming in Maggie’s mouth that she’s gasping from it.

She knows Maggie can tell, because she can feel how much her clit is pulsing, she can see the way Maggie’s eyes crinkle a bit in that knowing _smile_. She can’t hold herself up on her elbow anymore, and she falls back into the pillows.

“I’m so –” she starts to pant out as she can feel that fire about ready to explode into what she _knows_ is going to be an earth-shattering orgasm, but she cuts herself off when Maggie’s mouth leaves her completely.

Maggie is above her again, her body pressing Alex’s into the bed, her arm reaching between them, but all she’s touching Alex with is her fingertips, rubbing at Alex’s entrance.

And this feeling is killing her. It doesn’t feel like she’s been wanting this orgasm for just tonight, it feels like she’s needed it for so long, and she rolls her hips against Maggie’s, “Why – why?”

She can’t get out _why did you stop?_ Or _why isn’t your mouth on me anymore_? out and she settles on that, huffing out a breath as warm brown eyes look at her.

“I want to see you when you come for me,” Maggie tells her, her voice rougher than she’s ever heard it.

She presses two of her fingers against Alex, pressing just her fingertips in, but stilling there even when Alex moans.

And Alex really isn’t above begging at this point because, “I’m so close, Maggie, don’t stop. _Please_ don’t stop.”

Maggie only slides her fingers in a little bit more, but not _enough_ , before she pauses again, and dips her head to nip at Alex’s earlobe, “Say that again.”

Alex is so damn close to falling over the edge and headfirst into her orgasm, she barely has the presence of mind to register what Maggie is saying, “What?”

Maggie skims her mouth against Alex’s jaw, and she can _feel_ her wetness on Maggie’s lips, before she whispers, “My name.”

“ _Maggie_ , please. I need you,” her eyes are heavily lidded, but she keeps them open, keeps them on Maggie as her girlfriend pushes her fingers into her.

She moves slower than Alex expected, slow enough that Alex doesn’t come immediately. Instead, she pauses when her fingers are inside and dips down to press her mouth to Alex’s. They both whimper at the contact, and Alex drags her tongue against Maggie’s and then sucks on her lips to taste herself, and Maggie moans against her.

Maggie pulls out of her and then presses back in, all the way, slowly but firmly and Alex’s toes curl with the pleasure of it, her mouth breaking away from Maggie’s as she whimpers. But she keeps her eyes open, because Maggie’s are.

They hold hers, tracking her expressions as she twists her fingers inside of Alex, rubbing lightly at her clit with her thumb, and she strokes her hands up Maggie’s back as she moves inside of her.

She is _so close_ it almost hurts, and her clit is throbbing, her heart is hammering and she can hear how desperate she sounds as she says, “F-faster. Harder, god, Maggie.”

And this time, Maggie listens. She thrusts harder, deeper, faster, and Alex digs her nails so hard into Maggie’s back she knows she’s leaving marks. But if Maggie’s responding groan is anything to go by, she likes it, too.

When Maggie crooks her fingers inside of her and rubs harder at her clit, the twisting pressure inside of her completely shatters, and Alex can only hear white noise as she comes so hard she arches completely off the bed, even with Maggie on top of her.

She can feel how hard her body is shaking, and even when she melts back into the bed, Maggie keeps rubbing at her. Her entire body is shaking and _jesus_ , she has never come so intensely in her life.

Maggie keeps her fingers inside of her, moving softly for long moments before she completely stills as Alex’s eyes flutter open to meet hers.

She knows she was loud. She knows it because she can feel the slight burn in her throat and she’s so pleasantly heavy all over.

It’s only when all of her bearings come back to her that she realizes Maggie is moving against her thigh. Her hips are rocking jerkily, ever so slightly, as though she’s doing everything to control herself but still can’t resist just a bit of friction.

“You good?” Maggie asks, though, her voice warm and giving Alex a look that is so attentive, because that is just who she is.

“I’m amazing,” she’s still a little breathless, “And so are you,” she informs her, reaching up to stroke the hair that is falling down to curtain them behind Maggie’s ears.

She uses that hold to bring Maggie down to her, loving how Maggie meets her halfway there to kiss her. Their mouths slide together slow and deep, and she can still taste herself on Maggie’s mouth.

She places a kiss on Maggie’s chin and on her jaw, and Maggie’s hand tightens in her hair and her hips rock harder against Alex when she realizes what Alex is doing.

“I like the way I taste on you,” she says and she doesn’t know how saying that can possibly make her blush, not after everything that just happened, but it does.

She’s proud of herself, though, when Maggie’s breath hitches, “Yeah?”

And she can’t answer her because Maggie’s kissing her again, this time a little more intently. And when Maggie whimpers into Alex’s mouth, all she can think of is that she still hasn’t seen Maggie come.

So she presses her thigh up, firmly, and she viscerally enjoys the way Maggie groans into her mouth.

She strokes her hands over Maggie’s back and starts to build a rhythm, and she stares up at Maggie, whose eyes are closed as she rolls her hips, in wonder, “You’re so wet.”

Those dark eyes blink open, and the intensity in them is almost breathtaking as Maggie braces herself on the pillow behind Alex’s head to ride her thigh, “I just watched you come. I just _made_ you come,” she tells her, breathlessly, like it’s that simple.

And Alex can’t even argue with her even if it amazes her, because she can feel how wet Maggie is. She can feel her dripping down her thigh, and she can feel the way her clit is throbbing every time she rocks forward, she can see the strain in Maggie’s neck.

Alex scratches her hands down and cups her ass, moving Maggie against her, and knowing that this is all because of her, that Maggie desires her so much, that she is the reason Maggie is above her and panting – it’s the headiest kind of pleasure and she’s already addicted to it.

“What do you want?” she murmurs, as she slides one of her hands up and around and rubs circles around one of Maggie’s nipples, taking note of and fucking _loving_ the way it makes Maggie shake harder.

“I want this. Just – this,” Maggie manages to get out, before her head falls back on a throaty groan. Her hand fists in the pillow and Alex slides her hand down to rub lightly at Maggie’s clit, just as much as she can from this angle and she is more than thrilled when Maggie jerks to a near-stop with a shudder and stares down at her, “I want to ride you,” she tells her, and her voice is low, “I want to come on you, like this,” she murmurs, as she keeps moving, “To feel you, all pressed against me, while I come.”

And despite the fact that she just had the best orgasm of her life, Alex thinks hearing Maggie say _that_ is probably the biggest turn-on she’s ever had.

If that’s what Maggie wants, Alex can do that.

She sits up, bending her leg slightly to give Maggie more friction and to press their bodies completely together.

And when Maggie moans and rocks harder, her head falling back and sending her hair cascading back… Alex knows it was the right move. She can feel Maggie’s movements becoming less coordinated, can feel how she gets what seems like impossibly wetter, sliding against her.

She leans in, far too tempted, placing a kiss on Maggie’s neck. And when Maggie’s hands slide into her hair and hold her there, she sucks on her neck, and slides her hand down like she had before, just enough to be able to rub Maggie’s clit.

The whimper that Maggie lets out reverberates on her lips, and her nails dig into her, so Alex nips her teeth into her a bit, and uses the staccato of Maggie’s hips to dip her fingers lower.

As soon as she does, she is rubbing firmly at Maggie’s clit, and she can feel her throbbing against her, soaking her fingers in seconds just like she did her leg, and there has never been anything that feels this good, she thinks when Maggie really picks up a rhythm and presses herself against her, working with Alex’s fingers.

She knows Maggie’s going to come moments before it happens, in the way her movements freeze and how taut her body gets as she presses so close to Alex, and she rubs her fingers a little faster, feeling the way Maggie’s clit twitches and how she presses tightly against her on a gasp, her fingers digging into her hair tightly.

She slows down and rubs her through her orgasm, wanting to keep it going for as long as she can. Wanting to keep that look on Maggie’s face, and these breathless gasps that are mixing with, “Alex,” to go on for as long as possible.

They stay there, sitting up, until she feels Maggie take a deep breath and then release it, pressing bonelessly into Alex, and then she eases back into the pillows.

It’s only when they’re laying down and she has Maggie half on top of her – she doesn’t want her any farther – that she realizes, those dark eyes are open and watching her. Watching with that soft, affectionate, loving look that lights her eyes up.

And makes Alex feel warm all over, even before Maggie reaches out her hand to stroke her thumb over Alex’s jaw.

“I still can’t believe you’re mine,” Maggie says, still a little breathless, as she pushes herself up on her elbow to look at her. After a moment, she groans quietly and shakes her head, “I don’t mean in some Neanderthal caveman type –”

“I’m yours,” Alex interrupts her, her entire nervous system feeling like it’s on fire but in the most amazing way, the words igniting these feelings that are always so close to the surface with Maggie. And always have been. “I have been for a long time.”

Maggie does that thing, where she looks at her all affectionately, and special. She reaches out to frame her jaw before she kisses her.

It’s brief and sweet and it makes her sigh, even though Maggie is looking at her with that contemplative thoughtful look as she leans back, “I’ve never wanted this before,” she blows out a breath and holds Alex’s gaze as she murmurs, “I’ve never wanted anyone to be _mine_ like this before. I’ve never been a jealous person, I’ve never wanted for anyone to want me back so… completely.”

“I do,” the confirmation leaves her lips without even thinking about it.

And the smile Maggie gives her as she walks her fingertips over Alex’s stomach, leaving goosebumps in their wake is dimpled perfection as she responds, “I know. And I’m yours, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My god, they have both waited so long for this... 
> 
> Please, as always, let me know your thoughts and feelings. I can't apologize enough for having such a long break between updates! I'll be wrapping this short story up soon, though :) Thank you so much for reading, always. I hope everyone had happy holidays!


	4. I Hope That Someday I'll Share Her Home

Maggie’s been in a relationship with Alex Danvers for just over six months when she sort of accidentally takes the “next step.”

And it’s at laser tag game night, of all places.

The thing is, though, that this has been on her mind for, well, almost a month. Ever since she’d spent Thanksgiving at Alex and Kara’s, with their other friends and Eliza. At the end of the night when she’d thought she would end up saying her goodbyes and going back to her place alone, Alex had said her own goodbyes and slid her hand into Maggie’s, giving her an easy smile with her dark eyes sparkling, as they’d left.

Just like that. As if they were going _home_ together. Not to Maggie’s home, but to their home. Together.

And ever since that night, she’s thought about it in embarrassing frequency.

It just _happens_.

When they are at the grocery store together, and Alex tosses in food she wants – or when Maggie goes alone and thoughtlessly tosses in the food she knows Alex wants – it’s on her mind. All of the sudden, she’s thinking about what the grocery list would look like if Alex was there all of the time.

Whenever she sees Alex’s spare toothbrush next to her own in the holder in her bathroom or sees the two drawers Alex has in her bureau, it’s this warm rush inside like she wants _more_ of that. Like she knows exactly how much clothing Alex has of her own and how they would need to configure the room to fit it all.

When Alex spends the night – well, that’s a no brainer. Because Alex is _there_ – comfortable and at-home in her kitchen and on her couch and it’s easy to imagine spending every night going to bed with Alex and waking up to her.

It’s sort of impossible to have anything else on her mind at the given moment, anything else that isn’t _Alex_ right here and now.

Her girlfriend’s hands are tunneled into her hair and scratching at her scalp and every time she feels Alex’s nails against her, she shudders and whimpers into her mouth, because she swears she can feel the spark of it right down her back.

Then she slips her fingers under Alex’s shirt, just to be able to slide her fingertips over the soft, warm skin of her hips. There’s a sound Alex makes in the back of her throat at Maggie’s touch on her bare skin, and it makes heat pool low in her stomach, even as she smiles into their kiss.

Because at this point, she _knows_ Alex’s sounds. She knows the way she’ll whimper and groan, and she knows exactly what to do to elicit those sounds, and the fact that she’s so in tune with Alex Danvers’ body – fuck, she loves it.

Before they can go too far, though, she gives Alex’s hips a little squeeze, before slipping her hands out from her shirt and looping them into her belt. She pulls back out of the kiss, reluctantly parting with softer presses of her lips to her girlfriend’s, and then leaning her head back against the rest.

“Thanks for picking me up at work,” Alex murmurs, her fingers still toying with the ends of Maggie’s hair. “I’ve missed you the last couple of days.”

“I can tell,” she teases, still a little breathless, laughing when Alex swats at her shoulder.

She tilts her head as much as she can where she’s sitting, taking in Alex’s flushed cheeks and how swollen her lips are, and she knows that the smile she has on is probably ridiculous, but, oh well.

“I may have missed you, too,” she tells her.

Alex quirks her eyebrow down at her, eyes twinkling, “Really? I thought you just wanted to hear some of my lecture.”

Maggie rolled her eyes, even as she let out a somewhat embarrassed huff.

She’d picked Alex up a half hour ago from NCU, catching the last bit of her lecture. The plan had been for the two of them to meet at the laser tag place that Winn had chosen to host their game night, just like they were planning on meeting up with their other friends.

Maggie had left work a little early, though, to catch Alex before she could leave NCU, so that they could have some time together before Laser Craze Game Night Extravaganza – official title given by Kara – given that Alex had been at work so much in the last week, in preparation for the end of the semester, that they hadn’t had much time to spend together.

Which wouldn’t be the case, a voice in the back of her mind spoke up, if they lived together.

It was that easy to pop back into the forefront of her mind, and Maggie barely held back a groan. After all, shouldn’t spending _less_ time with someone give you less thoughts of asking them to move in with you?

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head, “I just figured you could use a police escort.”

“And an official police car make out before game night?” Alex added, settling back a bit so that she was balanced on Maggie’s knees. She fit there easily, at this point it was just muscle memory, given the amount of times they’d found themselves in similar positions.

Before she could answer, though, both of their phones vibrated, and she already knew it was from their friends, even before taking out her phone.

******_Kara – 6:04PM_**  
_Where are you guys? We’re all in  
the lobby and ready to go! _

An expression of exasperated fondness that Maggie recognized easily was on Alex’s face, as she read her message, before locking her phone and blowing out a breath, “How much shit would we get in if we blew off game night and just went home?”

The jolt of _home_ rushed through Maggie and her fingers subconsciously tightened where they’d fallen to land on Alex’s thighs.

Clearing her throat, as if it would help her clear her mind, she quirked an eyebrow, “ _You_ want to be the one to tell Lucy and Winn that their weird laser tag rivalry isn’t going to be resolved tonight? Despite the fact that they’ve been talking about it for weeks?”

Alex sighed, deeply, “I guess not.” She starts to shift off of Maggie’s lap, but before she can, she arches an eyebrow at her and bites her bottom lip before she says, “But, we’re continuing this later.”

God, Maggie really doesn’t know if there is ever going to be a time where she isn’t completely enamored with being on the receiving end of that look. The look on Alex’s face that is wanting and full of desire and adoration.

“If you think I thought otherwise at any point, you’re crazy,” she informs her, and leans up to kiss her again – quickly, just enough to feel Alex’s warm lips against her own and not long enough to let herself get pulled in.

Because she knows at this point how easy that can happen, how easy it is to get lost in Alex.

When Alex sighs against her mouth in irritation of having to break up their time, it makes her smile, though, even as she taps her hands against her girlfriend’s thighs, “All right, up.”

It takes them a minute to get out of the car and stretch – mostly Alex, who grimaces and stretches her legs behind her, muttering about how she somehow always forgets how uncomfortable it is despite the fact that they’ve made out more in Maggie’s cruiser in the last six months than Maggie has in any relationship ever.

As they walk across the parking lot, Alex slides her hand into Maggie’s, squeezing slightly as they fall into their rhythm and all she can think of is _home_.

As far as track records go, this is her best relationship, ever. Granted, that’s really not shocking at all. Maybe they’ve been _together_ together for six months, but they’ve been Alex and Maggie for over four years.

They don’t really ever fight about anything serious, which she guesses isn’t all that surprising. After all, they already know everything there is to know about one another. They both shared the same taste in tv shows, in movies, in music, in humor.

They both knew the best and worst of each other, knew each other’s vulnerabilities and strengths. They knew each other’s pasts, wants for the future. Each other’s hobbies and little quirks and pet peeves.

She was in love with Alex, and she had such little doubt about being with her in the future that it was almost frightening in and of itself.

_But_.

That didn’t change the facts. That they’ve only been in a relationship for six months.

That Maggie has been in longer relationships and has never even seriously considered moving in with most of those women. That she’d lived with Kate – only moving in with each other after being together for almost two years – and that had clearly ended in such a disaster that she’d moved across the country.

That she is Alex’s longest relationship to date, ever, and she doesn’t want to rush that. She’s been doing everything in her power _not_ to rush this.

“What’s with that look on your face?” Alex’s voice pulls her out of her thoughts.

She can feel her heart skip a beat, as she shakes her head, “What look?”

Alex has her eyes narrowed a bit, that thoughtful crinkle between her eyebrows, before she uses the hand that isn’t still holding onto Maggie’s to gesture at Maggie’s face, “ _That_ one. Where you do that little head tilt and your eyes narrow just a bit. It’s like you’re thinking about something serious and you have the words you want to say but you actually don’t want to talk about it – you know, come to think of it, you used to give me that look a lot,” she says, leaning closer as they walk, eyes narrowed like she’s observing Maggie the same way she observes things in her lab.

And Maggie _doesn’t_ blush, but if she was someone who did that, it would be happening.

She shrugs, and laughs, even if it sounds a little forced to her own ears, “I don’t have that face.”

Alex is still looking at her unconvinced and there’s the slight frown on her lips that tells Maggie more than anything that her girlfriend doesn’t believe her.

It’s almost maddening, because Maggie _knows_ she has a damn good poker face.

“I’m just saying, I’ve noticed it a lot lately,” Alex informs her curiously, as she reaches out and pulls the door open, letting Maggie walk in ahead of her.

So, she might as well have a sign on her forehead asking her if she wants to move in with her. That’s good. Great.

She’s saved from having to answer by Winn, who is standing with Kara, Lucy, and James, as he shouts, “We have dibs on Maggie!”

“Fine. Alex with me and Kara? You’re practically begging to lose,” Lucy shoots back.

She slips her hand from Alex’s, and thinks that maybe a game night spent opposing each other will give her a reprieve from everything that’s been on her mind. Plus, she can’t deny that she enjoys Alex’s competitive spirit.

It was one of the first things she ever noticed about her, after all.

Alex snags her wrist, though, and pulls her in as the group heads toward the check in area. There’s a glint in her eyes that Maggie recognizes from all of the times they’ve played one another in pool, from all of the bets they’ve made, from all of the little games they’ve played over the years.

It gives her that same thrill of excitement that shoots through her that it always has, and she lifts her eyebrow in question.

She leans down and her breath is warm brushing against Maggie’s ear, her voice dipping into a whisper, “If my team wins, you’re going to tell me about the look.”

Even as she feels goosebumps, she scoffs, “And what do I get if I win?”

Alex pulls back just enough so that they’re making eye contact as she bites at her bottom lip. Then those dark eyes look into Maggie’s as she says, “Whatever you want.”

And – huh, okay.

A slow smile slides over her face, “Oh, Danvers. Let us not forget who owns a gun and has been trained to use it for a living.”

The grin Alex gives her almost seems inappropriate, “I could never.”

“You’re on,” she murmurs, and she shivers when Alex scratches lightly at her inner wrist, before she lets go.

Maggie needs to take a deep breath for a moment, whispering to herself, “You are _so_ on.”

Because if not for the simple matter of fact that now this was a competition and she would win _whatever she wanted_ – god, so many ideas – but if Alex won… well, Maggie had agreed to the deal.

And she definitely wasn’t sure how to even bring this up with Alex.

“You’re going down,” Alex threw over her shoulder.

“It’s a distinct possibility, tonight,” she threw back, before they joined the rest of their group in preparation. No way could she lose this.

A half hour later, found Maggie with her back against the wall, moving steady and surely through the dimly lit arena. She’d separated from both James and Winn early on, for the best of everyone involved.

After all, they were only forty five seconds into game play before Winn announced, “All the Schott’s are going to be fired!”

Which had resulted in Alex shooting him – technically the opposite of sportsmanship conduct – but Maggie couldn’t help but chuckle. Especially when her girlfriend had responded to his indignant “Hey!” with a threat of a second un-sportsmanship-like shot if he made another bad pun.

And as much as she wanted to side with her teammate… well, she agreed with Alex. So, she had tasked James with keeping Winn as not being an obvious target, while she was working on offense.

So far, she’d rounded a corner and snuck up on Kara, ducked into a crevice just in time to avoid getting shot by Lucy while managing to land her own shot. Shot Kara _again_ just in time to disable her long enough to help Winn scurry away.

Another run-in with Lucy, and a whole smattering of shots landed on the handful of other players also in the arena, meanwhile avoiding any shots landing on her sensors.

She’s on a distinct mission, however. Which is to find Alex and land a shot on her girlfriend. She figures it’ll cement her victory, really, if she manages to get the drop on her. It really shouldn’t be so hard, she thinks, as she finds herself in one of the far corners of the arena, swiftly turning the corner to find – nothing.

Which, is fine.

What is _not_ fine, is the fact that her vest lights up and makes that obnoxious buzzing sound, informing her that she’s been hit – the first time this game.

She whips around, and she doesn’t know if it is more or less upsetting that the person who shot her was one of the teenagers that she’d shot at a little while ago. In the split-second that it takes her to decide that she’s fairly impressed, the teenager’s suit lights up and buzzes as she gets shot as well.

“Damn it,” she mutters, and frowns as she turns on her heel and glares at the perpetrator, before marching away.

And Alex, wearing that victorious smile she has that’s just barely more than a smirk, comes into her view, from around the barrier a few feet away.

“Looking out for me? Even though I’m the enemy?” she teases her.

Alex shrugs and scoffs, “Well, I can’t let my girlfriend be shot. By someone who isn’t me, of course,” she adds, before huffing out a slightly breathless breath, “I’ve been trying to track you down forever in here.”

She supposes it’s not that crazy that she and Alex both had the same idea to go on the hunt for one another. They do think… crazily alike.

They both hear footsteps running toward them and laughter, and Maggie’s finally able to use her gun again, so she and Alex both turn to shoot two of the strangers also in the game at the same time, just before Alex jumps to duck behind the barrier and out of plain sight.

Their guns are trained on one another in an instant, and she can feel her lips quick into a small smile.

Because Alex’s hair is a little messy, probably because if Maggie can guess, she’s spent some time running around the arena. And she’s a little out of breath still, also probably from running around.

Her cheeks are a little flushed, and she’s still grinning from landing the shots on the other players. She’s triumphant and smirking and it’s weirdly both silly and sexy. Because here is her doctor doctor girlfriend, who makes bets with her in laser tag, of all things, and it’s too perfect.

“Move in with me,” the words leave her before she can even really register them.

And when she does, she can feel her stomach bottom out on her, as everything around them seems to freeze.

A few seconds beat by before, “Are – are you trying to distract me?” Alex asks and her voice is soft and sounds sort of _really_ mystified, “Because, um… if you are, it’s working.”

There’s no taking that back, Maggie realizes, even as the nerves pound through her. She loosens her grip on the laser tag gun and lets it fall to her side, as she shakes her head, and she has to swallow twice before she manages, “It’s not a distraction. But, it would be a pretty good one if it was, though, right?”

God, she hates sounding so nervous. She hates _being_ so nervous. The worst thing that’s going to happen is that Alex says no, right?

Her stomach flip flops as she squeezes her eyes closed for a second and shakes her head, “I know; it’s really soon. Probably too soon, actually. And it’s complicated, because you live with Kara and, you know, I don’t even know what the plan is with that. Plus, my apartment isn’t that big. I know that, too. I never planned on moving in with anyone when I leased the place five years ago, so.”

She takes a breath and rubs at her chin for a few seconds before she drops it back to her side, “And it’s completely fine if it’s too soon for you or if you want to think about it, because I get it. You know, I’ve been trying to take things slow, and letting you take the lead with – with most things in _this_ , with us. Which is what I’m happy to do. But. I guess I just mean, whenever you’re ready, to talk about moving in together, I’m… ready,” she finishes, wanting more than anything to drop her head into her hands.

God, Maggie feels like she’s screwing this up completely. _Who_ asks something like this at game night? At laser tag?

It’s dumb – so dumb. It’s dumb, and yet, there’s this feeling fluttering in her stomach that she can’t let go of, because what if Alex says yes? Alex has been the one who has made the big leaps in their relationship so far, and –

And then Alex slumps back against the barrier, and those dark eyes are staring up at her, wide and wondering. Searching hers, for a minute, and Maggie’s heart pounds –

Before Alex’s lips quirk up, “I knew there was a reason you’ve been making that face,” she’s grinning, so wide Maggie thinks it might be hurting her face, but it’s beautiful.

It doesn’t do anything to really alleviate her nerves, but she can’t stop the laugh that works its way out of her throat, “That’s what you’re taking out of this?”

Alex reaches out and tucks her fingers under Maggie’s laser tag vest, and uses that to pull her closer. Her touch is warm even through Maggie’s shirt and she feels it all over, even before Alex’s mouth lowers, capturing hers.

The kiss is hot and wanting and needy and it’s almost a shock to her nerves, as Alex nips at her bottom lip. That’s what it takes to spur Maggie into action, her free hand landing on Alex’s hip and digging her fingers in enough to make Alex whimper into her mouth.

She slides her tongue over Alex’s top lip before licking into her mouth and pressing as close as she can with these stupid vests on, and even though Alex hasn’t actually answered, she can feel the relief sliding through her.

The relief that she doesn’t have this weighing her down anymore, the relief that what she has with Alex isn’t something that could be damaged by her suggesting they live together, regardless what the answer is.

Especially because Alex, who slides her hand into Maggie’s hair, scratching lightly and loosening the ponytail she’d done up, doesn’t seem upset about the idea, at the very least.

Alex’s lips gentle against hers, tapering off into a quick succession of short, sweet kisses, before she feels Alex’s thumb stroke against her cheek as she pulls back. Only a few inches, as Alex asks, “Remember when you gave me a key to your apartment?”

Maggie _does_ remember, and she groans, because it was over two years ago, but she remembers how nervous she’d been about that, too.

Alex’s thumb strokes over her cheek again, and she speaks softly, her voice seeming to graze over Maggie’s skin and leaving goosebumps as she does, “We were at the bar and you were acting so _weird_ , for, like, that whole week.”

She remembers, because she’d had the key made post her breakup with Colleen, post the realization that she was in love with Alex, and post the crashing knowledge that having Alex in her life, no matter what their relationship, was something that she knew was permanent.

“And we had just finished playing pool… or, I guess I should say, I finished kicking your butt at pool,” Alex yelps and then laughs as Maggie lightly pinches at her side, and she’s still laughing, looking into Maggie’s eyes, as she says, “And you just put the key down on the pool table, acting all cool and shrugging, like. _For emergencies or when you’re coming over for horror movie night and I’m not back from work yet. I trust you, Danvers_ ,” Alex quotes her own words back to her, and the smile that tugs at her lips is instantaneous.

“I didn’t know you took my words to heart,” she whispers.

And Alex shrugs, ducking her head, “I guess it’s a good thing that I’ve had that key on my ring since then. I won’t need a new copy when I move in.”

Her heart skips a beat after she registers what she says, and she can feel herself grinning like an idiot, “You – yeah?”

She nods, and moves in enough to nuzzle Maggie’s nose with hers, and it warms her down to her toes, “Yeah.”

And she feels like she _should_ be worried or nervous or wonder about what is going to happen in case it doesn’t work out, but she doesn’t have those worries with Alex. The wonder of it leaves her feeling lightheaded, as she leans in to press their mouths together again.

Footsteps running in their direction register to her dimly, and it’s pure instinct to wrap her arm around Alex’s waist and spin them, leaving Alex out of range of being in the danger zone, before lifting her gun and shooting in the direction of the intruder right as they come bounding around the barrier.

She knows she hit the target without even looking, and when she sighs and _does_ look, she sees Winn, whose vest is lighting up, and he’s staring at her with his mouth open in offense.

“Maggie! You’re on my team!” he yells, sounding aghast. “And _she’s_ the enemy!”

Alex laughs, and she can feel her body shaking against her. And despite the fact that she knows she just lowered their teams score, she can’t help but shrug, “Schott’s fired.”

It’s hard to be all that sorry. Not even when their team ends up losing.

She already has everything she wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know your thoughts and feelings! And thank you so much for reading so far :)


	5. This Is Destiny Doing It Right

The first time Alex ever thinks about what it would be like to marry Maggie Sawyer, they aren’t even dating yet.

In fact, Maggie is in the middle stages of dating Emily and Alex is… doing her best with that information.

Which mostly means forcing as much of a smile as she can – even if it probably looks like a grimace because it feels like her heart is being painfully squeezed every single time – when her best friend mentions her girlfriend. Which is thankfully very sparingly.

They’re having one of their movie nights, filled with the horror movies only they enjoy, and they’re both sitting on Maggie’s couch, shoulders leaning into one another. It always tends to happen at least halfway through the first movie.

And Alex gestures to the television, finishing her five minute rant about biology and huffs out a sigh, “I’m just saying, on the scale of realism, Frankenstein’s monster – and his bride – are higher than Dracula.”

“In your scientific opinion?” Maggie asks and she can hear the teasing note in her voice.

But it only serves to make her feel more validated, “Yes! In my scientific opinion – I’m not saying I would, or _could_ at this point in scientific advancements, reanimate a body. But I’m saying I could believe it, given the right circumstances.

She finishes her impassioned ramble and she turns her head just enough to look at Maggie. She expects her to be watching the television throughout her chatter, because it’s not like Alex venting about the science behind a lot of the things they see in movies is something new.

But Maggie isn’t watching the movie. Her eyes are on Alex, and they have that _look_ in them. That one that is full of affection and is so warm and that makes her eyes sparkle in that way only Maggie has, while there’s a dimpled smile playing at her mouth.

Maggie’s look is enough to take the wind out of Alex’s sails, so to speak, and instead, she just feels her cheeks heat up and her heart pound in her chest. It’s a way only Maggie has ever made her feel, and it sends this rush of love through her.

Which _hurts_ , and she turns her attention to the movie, which is winding to an end anyway, to try not to think about it.

Instead of watching the end of the movie, though, her eyes drift downward and she watches the way Maggie’s fingers tap lightly on the couch cushion that they are both leaning into, the way her pinky absentmindedly strokes Alex’s with the movement.

She can feel that light touch like it sends a spark up her arm and she knows Maggie doesn’t feel it the same way she does, which makes the enjoyment she has from the feeling dimmed.

Rather than let herself focus on that, now, her eyes drift to the dvd case sitting on the coffee table, eyes fixating on the word _Bride_ . It’s not like she _wants_ to, but she can’t stop herself from thinking about Maggie… as a bride. Maybe it’s the way she can feel Maggie all soft and warm against her or that she can smell that familiar Maggie-smell all over her apartment. Or maybe it’s just that she is so in love with her that she can’t help it.

And before she can really think about it too much, she asks, “Do you ever… think about it?”

“Reanimating a corpse? I think that’s more your speed, mad scientist Danvers,” Maggie scoffs and nudges her with her shoulder.

Rolling her eyes, she corrects, “I was talking more about the whole, you know.” She wishes she did think about it first, now that she hears it coming out of her mouth, “Bride thing.”

When Maggie’s quiet for a few moments, Alex looks at her and sees the way her eyebrows are furrowed in that slightly serious way, and her heart skips a beat in her chest before Maggie quirks an eyebrow and looks up at her, “Sort of a random thing to bring up, given the fact that the Bride in this movie rejects the Monster as soon as they meet.”

Alex chuckles, “Not exactly what I was thinking about, but never mind.” She shifts, but doesn’t pull away from Maggie, and she’s just – she can’t stop thinking about it, now. Especially because, “I just mean. Well, you’re with Emily now. And that’s – well, you met her family and everything already.”

She doesn’t _mean_ to say it, because she isn’t sure she wants to hear the answer. She’s not sure she can take it.

And she can both hear and feel the sharp intake of breath Maggie takes in before she shakes her head, “Ah. No. No, no, still way too early to even think about that,” she lets out an uncomfortable laugh, before she sinks into the couch and seemingly impossibly closer to Alex, even though she feels like there’s a tension in Maggie right now, even though her face looks relaxed, as she stares straight ahead at the tv. “And I’m not sure it’s something I really saw for myself, anyway.”

It’s wrong to feel so relieved about that. She knows it is. She knows that a good friend shouldn’t feel so utterly relieved about her best friend not feeling as secure as possible in her relationship. Which, ugh, it’s not like she doesn’t _want_ Maggie to be happy and secure and thinking about a future – 

Maggie strokes her finger against Alex’s again and it brings her jumbled thoughts to a pause, before she clears her throat, “Uh. What about you?”

It’s in that moment that she looks down at their hands and she can imagine what it would be like. Having these nights, leaning into each other’s warmth, and not having to stop herself from wanting to be even closer. Being able to act on it.

Having actual rings on their fingers.

It’s a jarring thought, and she feels herself flush even as her heart constricts and she shakes her head, “No. Not – not really.” She rushes out, before taking a moment and – god, okay, maybe she could see herself spending a forever with… “I guess I have thought about it. Maybe one day,” she admits, softly, her throat feeling a little tight.

Maggie’s quiet and she wonders if it’s her imagination that her friend sort of falls more against her, her body solid and warm.

She can feel when Maggie takes in a deep breath, before she murmurs, “I don’t know. I think, with the right person, I could… see it.”

Alex cannot let herself think about the _right person_ for Maggie, because everything inside of her wants it to be _her_. Even though she knows, based on all evidence, that it’s not.

But she still can’t help but turn her head to look at Maggie. Once again, she’s expecting her to be watching the movie. Instead, they lock eyes for a long moment, and everything inside of her freezes up in the best and worst of ways.

She can’t think of anything to say in response to that, but she can’t focus on a single thing they say throughout the rest of the movie.

//

She thinks about it again three months into their relationship.

Alex wakes up in Maggie’s bed. She knows exactly where she is not just because of the fact that she can smell Maggie all around her, but because in the last three weeks since she and Maggie have started to have sex, she’s become intimately familiar with the feeling of waking up in Maggie’s bed.

She blinks slowly, still a little sleepy, which isn’t surprising when she thinks about how many times Maggie had made her come the night before, watching every release greedily, like it gave Maggie her own pleasure to see Alex orgasm. Which, maybe it did, in a way.

Still, Maggie’s arm is slung over her hips, as she sleeps on her stomach with her head turned in Alex’s direction. It’s not how they always wake up, but it’s not uncommon. She’s grown very used to the familiar weight of her girlfriend’s arm around her in some way.

Like sleeping Maggie likes to have her close, no matter which way they find themselves sleeping that night.

She rubs at her eyes, before she trails them over Maggie’s softly sleeping face.

She loves seeing Maggie like this. Vulnerable and open with her in a way that she knows is something only she gets to see.

Her eyes dip and trace over Maggie’s back. Over the shoulder blades that she’d scratched at last night, the marks only just visible still, now. She’d never truly thought of and appreciated all of the little muscles in someone’s upper back until her girlfriend’s, she thinks idly, slipping her fingertips up and over soft, warm skin.

Even though they’d only been having sex for less than a month, even though their relationship before that was still _new_ , there was no question in her mind that she could get used to this. She was already used to this.

“Are you staring at me while I sleep again?” Maggie’s tired, sleep-rough voice that Alex has been more than used to through the years almost made her jump.

Maggie’s eyes were still closed, but her voice was teasing, and Alex blushed as she settled back against the pillows with an embarrassed huff, “No. That’s – weird. According to you,” she mumbled the last part, mostly to herself.

It wasn’t like she woke up every morning that they spent together and just laid in bed and looked at her. But… it has happened a few times. The first morning after because she couldn’t believe she and Maggie Sawyer were finally together in every way possible; that she had woken up naked, with Maggie. And the last time this had happened, last week, was because she was marveling at the way she could see the exact place on Maggie’s cheek where her dimples would be if she’d been smiling.

She’d never noticed that before.

Maggie let out a sleepy sigh, her arm tightening around Alex’s waist – as if she would be moving away – before she informed her, “A little weird. I never said I didn’t like it.”

She can’t help the smile that tugs at her mouth, as she turns her head against the pillow to actually face Maggie now. Her warm breath hits Alex’s neck before those dark eyes open just a bit, “Good morning.”

“Morning,” she whispers back.

The fingers against her hip stroke against her softly as Maggie inches even closer, “What time is it?”

“Before your alarm,” she answers, because that’s all she knows for sure, and she’s not willing to move at this exact moment.

Maggie hums softly under her breath and the sound of it gives Alex goosebumps, “Works for me.”

Her girlfriend strokes up her side, leaving goosebumps in its wake, before cupping her jaw and turning her head. Their lips connect, and it starts slow. These slow, lazy morning kisses that she’s become familiar with.

Where Maggie’s lips, soft and warm with sleep, rub against hers and Alex swears she can feel the tingle from her lips to fingers, to toes and everywhere in between. And then when she reaches out to stroke her hand up the back her eyes had focused on, Maggie’s mouth slants open against her own, capturing her bottom lip between hers.

Sucking softly, enough that Alex whimpers into her mouth, before she can’t wait more and she licks into Maggie’s mouth. The soft groan Maggie gives her, as she strokes firmly down her back again until her hands land on her ass, make her want to smile and devour her.

She thinks she could quite literally spend forever waking up like this.

_Forever_.

It’s better this time, when it crosses her mind. Because this time, there is no heart-pounding _ache_ that the thought causes. It’s not daunting. Because Maggie is with her, and that’s all that is necessary to get rid of those aching years of wanting but not having.

But it’s still – it’s only been three months. Which is way too early to have thoughts like that and actually mean them.

And then Maggie shifts to press more firmly against her and she can’t think of anything at all.

//

She does her best to not get ahead of herself and think of marriage possibilities for the next few months.

And it works, for the most part.

It’s not until they’ve been together for eight months that she thinks about marrying Maggie again in any actual capacity, and it’s because of a dog. Their unexpected dog.

Alex grabs her keys and slides them into her jacket pocket as Maggie rinses out her coffee mug, staring at Alex over her shoulder, “Gertrude,” she says, her voice deadpan, “You want to call our dog… Gertrude.”

She brushes her hair out of her face, as she stares back at her girlfriend, “Well, we can’t keep calling her “puppy”,” Alex says, exasperated, as she gestures to the dog in question, who is still a little skittish about affection, but watches them.

They’d found her together, last week, outside of the building that Alex’s lab is in at NCU. Maggie had taken to picking her up on nights that her schedule allows, especially on nights where the weather isn’t all that great.

The sun had just set, the rain was getting heavier, and they’d been about to get into the car when they’d heard the little sound coming from near the stairs. There had been the dog in question – collarless, too skinny, the black, gray, and brown fur damp and dripping, with big dark eyes that neither of them had been able to turn away from.

In the following week, they’d had her checked out by a vet, Alex had walked around the college neighborhoods to check if there were any signs posted for a missing dog. Maggie had even checked around at the precinct to see if there had been a report of a stolen dog.

In that week, they’d subsequently bought food and toys, and a bed, even if she ended up at the foot of theirs more often than not.

In spite of not having a plan to get a dog yet, when all other searches had turned up with the signs pointing to the girl not having a home… all they’d had to do was share a look and know they were going to keep her.

Maggie rolled her eyes, her own voice even more exasperated, “I know we can’t call her puppy. But we aren’t naming her Gertrude! What even is that?”

Alex’s mouth fell open in offense, “It’s a solid name!”

“A dog. Named Gertrude,” Maggie deadpans, dark eyes holding Alex’s and she frowns when she sees the mirth in Maggie’s, “Come on. A solid name for a dog is… Bella. Or Mocha. Or Willow. Daisy,” she ticks off. “Babe, the other dogs in the dog park are going to make fun of her.”

Alex’s frown deepens as she sighs, and looks across the room. Their dog, with her smart dark eyes, is watching them with her head quirked. “I like Gertrude,” she says quietly.

Maggie gives an exaggerated groan as she slips her arms into her own jacket, pulling it up over her shoulders, “Okay, we table this for later when we get home. Little No Name has fresh water, right?”

She nods, “She’ll be all set until you come home at lunch.”

Only a few hours go by before her phone vibrates in her pocket, and she knows Maggie waited until her office hours to text her. That alone gives her a rush of affection, even before she sees the message.

_**Sawyer – 10:19AM**  
Okay, why Gertrude? _

**_Danvers – 10:21AM_   **  
_Gertrude Elion. She won the Nobel Prize_    
_the year I was born. She made so many_    
_advancements in developing medicines._  

 

**_Danvers – 10:22AM_   **  
_Including the first drug used for AIDs_    
_treatment. Cancer treatments. Malaria…_  

She blows out a breath, sort of regretting that message. Because when she reads it over to herself, she can already hear the way Maggie is reading it and calling her a nerd.

_**Sawyer – 10:24AM**  
Aw. Nerd. _

**_Sawyer – 10:25AM_**  
_You definitely did some book reports_  
_on good old Gertrude, didn’t you?_

She rolls her eyes, feeling her cheeks heat up even as she types.

_**Danvers** **– 10:27AM**_  
_Shut up. Only once._

**_Danvers_ – _10:28AM_**    
_But still. She just seems like a Gertrude._  
_Reserved. Intelligent. Unique._  

_**Sawyer – 10:30AM**  
Cute nerd. _

The rest of her day goes by quickly, despite a distinct lack of messages from Maggie for the rest of the day. Quickly and busily. And by the time she heads home, it’s after nine at night, her day started before eight, and she’s dragging her feet.

When she opens the door, she can smell immediately that Maggie made dinner; the smell of her homemade pasta sauce is in the air and already warming Alex from the inside out, and easing these dregs of tension from her shoulders.

She tosses her keys into the bowl, shucking her jacket as she walks farther inside. Only to find the kitchen and living room devoid of her girlfriend, and her eyebrows furrow together in confusion, “Maggie?”

“Bathroom!” comes the somewhat muffled reply from down the hall.

Momentarily mollified, she walks closer to the kitchen table. More drawn to the new bright blue collar with silver tags set out. The set of tags that, she realizes, are engraved with Maggie’s phone number and the address of her precinct, and she’s already feeling this warmth settling in her stomach even before she flips the tag around and reads the name.

Gertrude.

She shakes her head, breaking out into an unstoppable smile, as she’s hit with a rush of love so intense it makes her _need_ to see Maggie. Just because.

Clutching the collar in her hand, she makes her way into the bathroom, hearing Maggie speaking in low soft tones to their dog – to Gertrude – as she goes, “I know you don’t like this bath, Gert. I don’t really like having to give it to you. Truth be told, you’re kind of making a mess on the bathroom floor with all that…” she can hear water splashing, as Maggie sighs, “Moving around.”

She quietly turns the corner, seeing her girlfriend kneeling on the floor next to the tub. Her shirt and jeans are soaked through, even as she scrubs at Gertrude, who is panting and looking livelier than she has for most of her time with them. She’s laughing in that soft way she has –

And Alex can feel it, wrapped around her heart, as she leans against the door jamb.

This woman, this strong, ambitious woman, who made her dinner because she had a long day at work, and is willing to name their dog Gertrude for her, is going to be her wife.

It just hits her, in that moment, as she watches Maggie laugh, dimples popping, while her arms are soaked and sudsy from the water as she gives their dog a bath. This is it.

This is going to be the rest of her life. The feeling nearly makes her stumble where she stands, in the good way. The weak in the knees kind of way.

Maggie tosses her hair over her shoulder, her smile impossibly brightening when she sees her, “Your dog got into some of the leftover pasta. Sauce everywhere.”

It’s almost hard to speak with her smile so big, “My dog, huh?”

“Well, I certainly didn’t pick the name,” Maggie teases, groaning when she gets splashed with more water as Gertrude notices Alex.

She pushes herself out of the doorway and makes her way toward her girlfriend, “I’ll deal with the other dogs at the park if they tease her.”

When she gets close enough, she ignores the water on the ground and kneels, capturing Maggie’s smiling mouth with hers. The kiss isn’t that long, but it’s passionate and lingering and wanting, and Alex just needs Maggie to feel how much she loves her.

And when she draws away, Maggie looks kind of dazed for a moment, before she shakes herself out of it and clears her throat, “I, uh… well, I can help. At the dog park.”

“I love you,” she says in response, fervently. What she doesn’t say is that she is going to love her for the rest of their lives. That this, right now, is what she wants for the rest of her life.

But she feels it.

//

She knows that it’s time – that they are _there_ – almost a year into their relationship.

It’s the night of the police banquet that Maggie’s being honored at, with National City’s Medal of Valor. It’s actually for the night a little over a year ago, before they were even together, when Maggie had gotten shot.

The night that she’d gotten a surprising call from the hospital, informing her that she was Detective Sawyer’s emergency contact, that Maggie had sustained a gunshot wound while on duty, and – well, Alex doesn’t remember much from that phone call, because it had also been one of the worst nights of her life, to date.

She didn’t get the full story for another few days afterwards, where Maggie had shrugged and told her that it “wasn’t a huge deal” but that she’d been first on the scene where one of the informants on a case she’d been working on had gotten into a “tough spot” with one of the drug dealers involved in the bust the special crimes unit was working. And, in Maggie’s words, “things went sideways pretty quickly.”

She finds out Maggie’s being honored at the banquet when she mentions it offhandedly as they have dinner the week before. Asking, “Do you have anything going on next Wednesday?”

Alex thinks over her schedule before shaking her head and her eyes catching on the way Maggie’s fingers fidget in that way that she has when she’s nervous or uncomfortable. The concern is already sliding through her before she shakes her head, “No, not that I can think of. Why?”

Maggie takes in a deep breath and blows it out, tapping her fingers against the fork before rolling her eyes at herself, “There’s a banquet that night. The police banquet, where everyone has to wear their dress blues and are on best behavior and fake laughs and everything for the commissioner.”

She knows that her confusion is on her face and she shakes her head slightly, “You usually volunteer to work on that night. You said you hate those things?”

“I do,” her girlfriend is quick to assure, before she shrugs, “But I’m… you remember that night with my heroic injury?” she asks, her dimples flashing quickly, taking to referring to her being shot as her “heroic injury” when she’d noticed how many times Alex would kiss or lightly stroke her scar.

And she rolls her eyes, “Of course.”

“I’m getting an award, I guess, for that night,” she says, biting her lip as she looks up at Alex.

Who has to take a second to process, before she starts to smile, “You are? Babe, that’s – amazing.”

Maggie shrugs, even as the corner of her mouth tilts into a smile, “I mean, I was just doing my job.”

Shaking her head, she leans in and presses her lips to Maggie’s cheek, grinning when she feels the dimple form against her mouth as her girlfriend smiles. She whispers, “You are better at doing your job than anyone else.” She trails her lips to the edge of Maggie’s mouth, “And we’re going, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

Maggie turns just enough so that they can kiss for real, and there are no more words.

Which leads her to that night. She’s wearing a dress, black and form-fitting over her chest and abdomen, until it hits her neck, where it ties behind. Her shoulders are bare, and it flows from her waist to her ankles – it’s new, and she bought it just to see the way Maggie’s eyes darken when she sees her in it for the first time.

“I thought you said there was no skipping out on the banquet?” her voice dips, and Alex can feel her gaze like an actual touch.

But – god, Maggie in her dress blues is… Alex feels the desire like a rush through her veins.

“Tonight, your valor will be very much rewarded.”

Maggie’s smirk in response is everything.

Even though they both are people who tend to avoid these kind of events, Alex can’t help but feel a thrum of excitement as they walk through the event hall. She has Maggie’s hand in hers as they pause to say quick hello’s to people Maggie knows.

“I feel like I’m with a celebrity,” she murmurs.

And Maggie runs her eyes up over her body, before their eyes meet, “Yeah, it’s actually you they’re all looking at in that dress, Danvers.”

There’s no way she looks better than Maggie right here, right now.

“If it isn’t the woman of the hour!” Flores’ familiar voice comes from behind them.

And even as Alex rolls her eyes, she gives him a smile as they turn. Ever since he and Maggie had stopped being partners when she’d made detective, she hadn’t seen him as much. But he’s a friendly face, and she can see just in his expression that he’s proud of Maggie.

“I’ve been looking all over for you and the wife,” he says to Maggie in that playful tone he has.

Maggie says something back, but it’s white noise to Alex because she feels that word like a punch to the stomach. Wife. It knocks the air out of her lungs, and it’s not the first time he’s referred to her as Maggie’s wife; he’s been doing it for years.

He first did it before Alex even realized she was in love with Maggie. He jokingly referred to her as “the wife” and Alex, with her crush, before the first time she’d ever even kissed Maggie, blushed and stuttered for a long moment.

He’s done it handfuls of times since then. When Maggie’s been dating other people, and Alex felt like the word was taunting her and it would make her flinch. At the start of their relationship, when it made her stomach flutter with nerves and would make her laugh awkwardly because it just _wasn’t time yet_.

But she’s frozen.

Because it doesn’t feel like that right now. She doesn’t feel like it’s not the time yet. Here, in this room of people, she wants to be known as The Wife. As Maggie’s wife. She wants – she wants. It feels _good_ to think of that.

It feels like she wants more than anything to buy Maggie a ring.

“You okay?” Maggie’s voice pulls her out of her thoughts.

And she nods, distractedly, and thinks – Maggie’s ring size is a 5.5, before she nods, “Uh, I’m good. Really good.”

The smile she gives is genuine because she _is_ – really good.

Her girlfriend is heart-stoppingly, mouth-wateringly gorgeous, and Alex wants more than anything to say that the woman up on the stage that night as she is given her award is her fiancée.

//

Alex sips on a brandy the night she proposes to Maggie, just over a year after being together.

Her stomach is tangled into nerves and excitement, as she taps her fingers against the bar, and she can feel the ring burning in her pocket, feeling like it weighs at least fifty times more than it actually does.

She can’t not feel it on her.

She’s sitting at their spot in their bar, and M’gann lifts her eyebrow at her from the other side, “You’re stressing _me_ out, and I’m not even the one proposing.”

She shoots her with a glare, that she can feel is weak, before she sips again at the drink she hadn’t ordered but that M’gann had just slid to her to take the edge off of her nerves, after Alex had rambled about the fact that she’d been drinking a brandy right here in this spot the first time she’d ever seen the dark-haired woman with the dimpled smile and eyes that sparkled and knocked her off of her feet before she even knew she was gay.

Groaning, she draws a hand through her hair, and she isn’t sure if she wants to laugh or cry or how to deal with the feelings so tightly intertwined inside of her.

Everything had seemed so easy, in the last couple of weeks.

She’d gone out ring shopping – Kara had gone out with her exuberantly, without being asked – and even her super romantic sister had gotten tired of Alex after going from jewelry store to jewelry store, because Alex didn’t know exactly what she was looking for other than the fact that it had to be perfectly right for Maggie.

And after she’d had the ring, she’d thought for hours about the when and the where and the how.

After she’d done away with the somewhat crazy thoughts she’d had about whisking Maggie away to somewhere secluded and romantic – save that for a honeymoon – and really _thought_ about it…

It had to be here. In their bar. Where she’d first ever seen Maggie, where they’d first met. Where so many of their firsts had happened, where _they_ happened.

Eyebrows furrowing, Alex replayed her sister’s last conversation with her. Well, the highlights –

“This is so exciting!”

“You two are made for each other.”

“Alex, there is no way she will say no!”

It _was_ exciting. And Alex, despite this anxiety, was more worried about the fact that…

“I want it to be perfect,” she says, surprising both herself and M’gann. “I want Maggie to have something perfect.” She bites at her lip, running her finger around the top of her glass, “When I told her I loved her, it wasn’t planned, but it – well, it worked. But I have this whole thing _planned_ and I want it to go so well…”

M’gann gives her a sympathetic little look, but also encouraging and warm, “Well, I can tell you that it’s been an honor to watch it all from this side of the bar.” She leans in with a whisper, “You want to know something?”

Alex takes a deep breath, the nervous excitement inside dimming with the distraction – less than five minutes for Maggie to arrive, if she was accounting for her commute correctly – before she nods.

The woman behind the bar quirks an eyebrow before she dips down and places a bottle of Dom Perignon in front of Alex, unopened, “I’ve had this champagne sitting behind my bar for two years. Since the night you and Maggie drank a bottle together to celebrate your twenty-seventh birthday. You two weren’t even dating, yet, but you sat here together and didn’t even notice the rest of the world for _hours_ ,” she pauses, using the cloth over her shoulder to polish up the bottle, “And I’ve been saving this bottle right here, since that night, for you two to celebrate something special with it. Like a wedding.”

She’s floored, and it takes her a few long moments to really register everything M’gann says, before she flushes, “You’ve really saved that for us? For years?”

“Scouts honor,” M’gann salutes her.

And Alex scoffs, “You were never a scout,” she says softly, reaching out to run her fingertips over the bottle of champagne. “Thank you.”

She means it.

Her friend shrugs, “What is your favorite bartender for?” before she throws her a wink, “Besides, I better be the bartender at your reception.”

“Of course,” the response is easy because – even without the champagne, what other choice did she have? “You serve our favorite drinks, anyway.”

“I know. I can’t get rid of you two,” she throws over her shoulder as she grins and walks to the other side of the bar to the customers who sat down a minute ago.

Alex can’t help but feel this warmth settle inside of her and stay, M’gann’s words dulling her nerves for the most part.

Rolling her shoulders, she can feel her hands shake just the slightest bit as she reaches into her pocket and draws out the ring box, turning it over in her fingers. The white gold, solidly intertwining band, leading into the modestly sized round emerald in the center because she knew Maggie wouldn’t want something too flashy, with small diamonds surrounding it.

This was the ring. Because it was traditional in the band and in the gem cut, but also breaking from traditional. Because Maggie went above and beyond anything traditional. The green was for life. For growth. For the fact that she hadn’t _stopped_ growing since meeting Maggie.

Biting at her cheek, she traces her fingers over the box again, and she can feel her heart beating – solidly but not racing.

“My dad always said that you never really know the moments that will change you when they’re happening,” she says softly, mostly to herself, but – just thinking about everything that she’s been thinking about for the last few weeks. Practicing, almost. Not that she’ll be able to remember it all in the moment, she’s sure. Not when Maggie’s eyes are warm and bright, looking up at her.

She looks at the currently empty seat next to hers, the one that has become Maggie’s seat. She can see perfectly the way Maggie slid in next to her the first time, asking, “ _Anyone sitting here?”_

“And maybe that’s true for some people,” she murmurs, flexing her hand around the box, “But I knew the moment I saw you…”

The way she’d strut in for the first time, ever, like she could read everything and everyone in the building with one look.

“The moment I saw you, I knew that something was changing, for me. I knew every single time I saw you, all the times we sat here together, that this was _something_. I felt it. That you were it for me.”

She can perfectly see the dimples flashing. She can see the way Maggie would slide in after a long day at work, resting her head on her hand and giving Alex a small smile. She can see the way Maggie would hop into the seat and nudge her shoulder against Alex’s when something funny or exciting happened.

The image of it stirs all of this warmth and happiness and _love_ inside of her, and she smiles to herself, “I know that we’ve been together for barely a year, and that maybe it’s fast. But I _know_ , Maggie; I know that what you and I have is never going anywhere. I’ve been in love with you for so long now, that it’s as natural as breathing. And I want to make it official. I want to give baths to our sneaky dog with you and go snorkeling on our honeymoon, and do the crossword with you calling me a nerd every single Sunday, even when you know some of the answers I don’t…” her eyes land on the box again and she flips it open, as she murmurs, “I want everything with you. For the rest of our lives."

“I really hope the only person you were expecting to meet here tonight was me,” Maggie’s voice comes from behind her, shocking her, and now her heart _is_ racing, as she jumps.

She knocks her elbow into the bar, and brown eyes are wide as she spins, “I – you’re here. And you heard… how much did you hear?”

“About everything, I think,” she says, her voice so soft, and Alex can see that she has to swallow twice before she manages to get out, “Enough to know that you want to spend the rest of your life with me and that you’ve known it for a long time?”

“Oh,” she sighs, inwardly berating herself, her eyes dipping down to the ring now clutched in her hand, “I just – I was going to do it all for you. Get down on one knee, and be so romantic, and surprise you.”

Maggie’s hand is on her arm, and even though she’d had her affectionately teasing tone at first, when she speaks again, she’s so earnest, and her eyes are shining – it takes Alex a second to realize that there are tears her eyes. She swears her heart is so full it’s ready to explode even before Maggie’s breath catches and she murmurs, “I don’t need you on one knee. I just need you.”

She can feel her own eyes fill with tears and she’s never been someone who cries when something good happens, she’s never understood that, but she thinks that for just this once she might, “Is that – a yes?”

It’s so overwhelming, but in a good way, such a good way, even as she holds her breath waiting for the confirmation.

“It’s a, I’ve never wanted anything more than this, with you,” Maggie says, and her eyes flicker to the ring Alex bought, and hold which –

This is real and it’s happening and Alex shakes her head at herself, before she lifts the box and looks at the ring herself, before she takes it out to hold it between them, “I – I thought it suited you. Just. It’s beautiful but not flashy, and solid but intricate. And if you don’t like it, we can –”

Maggie mercifully stops her ramble by taking Alex’s hand in hers and holds out her finger, “You want to do the honors?” she sounds both teasing and breathless and it’s perfect.

“You changed my life,” she whispers as she readjusts the way their hands are holding onto one another’s, “And I want to spend the rest of it, falling even deeper in love with you.”

She slides the ring on her finger and _wow_.

_Wow_.

Her ring, the engagement ring that she bought is on Maggie’s finger. She’s engaged to Maggie Sawyer.

Even though her mind sometimes feels a step ahead of everything going on around her, it’s running in circles right now, and she holds Maggie’s hand in hers and she can feel the ring against her. It sends a rush through her entire system, and she leans in toward Maggie’s warmth.

Her other hand moves up to cup Maggie’s jaw, and Maggie leans in eagerly, meeting her lips. She doesn’t think she’ll ever have enough of her, it’s impossible. And right now, while she can feel her engagement ring on her finger, while they’re standing in their spot, she feels so full that her heart could burst and that she still wants even more.

She strokes her thumb over her fiancée’s cheek and feels her sigh into her mouth, and then shivers when Maggie’s other hand comes up to stroke over her hip, moving even closer to her even as they break off their kiss.

They breathe softly against one another, and Alex can feel the uncontrollable smile starting to take hold.

“For the record… I already knew,” Maggie whispers conspiratorially against her mouth, and then Alex can feel _her_ smile.

She draws back, eyes wide, as she shakes her head. Because – that’s basically impossible. She’d only even had the ring for less than two weeks, “There is no way you knew! How –”

“I’m a detective, Danvers. I detect,” she says, that glint in her eye, before she breaks into a soft laugh, “Also, you hid the ring in your sock drawer and I was putting away some laundry last week.”

Alex draws back enough that she can stare incredulously at her, even as she feels herself blush – another thing to curse at herself for, later, “And you didn’t say anything?”

“I knew you wanted to have your moment,” Maggie’s voice is soft and doesn’t feel placating even though it might have if it was someone else who said it. She tilts her head, and bites her lip in a way that distracts Alex immeasurably, before she says, “I, uh, I’ve been prepared ever since I saw the ring, though.”

Alex shakes her head slowly, trying to take it all in, “What do you mean?”

But Maggie is already reaching into her jacket pocket, pulling out her own box, before she blows out a breath in that uncommonly nervous way she has, her voice a little shaky when she says, “It means, I’ve been carrying this around with me, so that I would be ready.”

The fact that she does it, that she is feeling those nerves, even though she is literally wearing Alex’s engagement ring on her finger, makes Alex smile even as her stomach flip-flops.

“You bought me a ring? I – if that’s like, a keychain, this is the worst time in the word,” the words leave her and she can hear her own breathlessness even in her joke. But even though she’d been prepared to propose and to be engaged… she hadn’t considered this part, yet.

The part where she has her own ring that she can look at and know that Maggie got it for her, that she has a fiancée. That her fiancée is Maggie Sawyer.

Her hands are shaking but not from nerves or anxiety, but from the sheer fact that she’s having trouble believing that this is real life. She reaches out, but only makes it a few inches before Maggie takes her hand lightly in her own.

Warm and soft, but with those particular calluses that Alex is so, so familiar with now. But steady, as she slides the ring onto Alex’s finger. Certain.

And she can’t stop looking at the soft gold vintage cut band, the cushion diamond, with smaller, almost imperceptive ones snuck in throughout the cut of the band. It… “It’s perfect.”

Maggie’s lips tick up, and her thumb strokes over the ring she just slid onto Alex’s finger, sending shivers down her spine with the touch, “I, uh, I’m glad you like it. Because I bought it for you after our third date.”

Her mouth falls open, shock rushing through her, and – even as all the thoughts rush through her mind, she doesn’t know how to find the words to express this feeling. This wonder and surprise and her heart was just beating so hard.

“Maybe it’s only been a year, technically, since we’ve been together. Maybe this _is_ fast, and maybe me buying a ring so early for you, is crazy,” she lets out a scoff of laughter at herself, before she takes a deep breath and those dark, sparkling eyes move from her hand to meet Alex’s, “I’ve been so afraid to ever let myself believe someone was going to stay. But never with you. Not at all in our relationship and not even in our friendship. You became my home without me even realizing it. Maybe it was watching horror movies with you, or winning at game nights, or maybe all of those times you texted me your puns, but I _know_ I’ll never feel this way for anyone else. Not ever.”

The words seem to circle her mind, and she didn’t know it would be possible to fall even more for Maggie than she already has, but somehow, it always seems to happen.

She leans in kisses Maggie again. She can’t help it, and Maggie only moves in closer, her mouth moving with Alex’s slowly, smoothly. Well-practiced and so soft and warm and slow and –

She pulls back when the thought occurs to her, her eyes still closed, “I just… on our third date, we tried that sushi place you wanted to go to. And you didn’t like it.”

Which makes Maggie roll her eyes and huff out a breath, which hits Alex’s kiss-swollen lips and makes her shiver, “Yeah, but then you bought me my favorite vegan ice cream and made plans to get the good sushi the day after. Like you knew just what I needed to make everything feel like the night was completely salvaged.”

Her mouth breaks out into a smile, so big it almost feels like it should hurt, “I try.”

Which makes Maggie chuckle softly again, before she looks behind Alex for the first time since arriving, “Is that champagne?”

She thinks about M’gann’s words from earlier, and she turns just the lightest, not moving away from Maggie at all, but enough to look at their seats and the bottle on the counter between them.

This was inevitable, she thinks. Right from the very beginning.

“It’s for our wedding.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After many words and nights of little sleep and many rambles about ideas for this series, it comes to a close. 
> 
> Thanks so much for everyone for reading and following along with this sanvers journey :) I hope you enjoyed it and whatever else will come in the future!


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